


The Young Avengers in: Persona 6 (Not) Dancing Hero Night

by ZDOGsthl



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Gay Male Character, High School, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Panic Attacks, Slow Build, Social Anxiety, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-23 16:10:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14336181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZDOGsthl/pseuds/ZDOGsthl
Summary: Billy Kaplan wasn't sure what to expect from his new school, but meeting a cute boy, falling into an alternate world, and discovering shadows and personas wasn't it. Now Billy and his new friends have to work to together to solve the mystery, save their friends, and survive High School.





	1. Welcome to the Velvet Room

**Author's Note:**

> So this is basically the Persona but with Young Avengers characters. This is the first fanfic I'm posting, so advice/ criticism is appreciated. Made this Mature to be safe, but most of the material will be more teen, with maybe a little swearing and violence.

Billy Kaplan was speechless. He didn't remember coming here… wherever here was. It was… dark room, lit by a mysterious blue glow that didn't seem to come from any light source. The room was big, and the walls appeared to be fancy and well decorated, with paintings scattered throughout. There were also a few strange, elegant doors scattered around. 

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

Billy turned his attention to the seat two people seated across from him. One was an older man, with a large pointed nose, terrifying piercing eyes, hunched over in his dark suit as he leaned on the table before him, with his hands tented in white gloves as if he was plotting Billy’s downfall. His smile was wide and...unsettling.

The woman seated next to him, on the other had, was the complete opposite. She was beautiful, with long, blonde, flowing hair, and a gentle, yet reserved smile. Her height caused her to tower over the man next to her. Her outfit looked like something an elevator attendant might have worn, and it was a slightly different shade of blue than the rest of the room. She had a small blue cap on her head, and she wore a pair of blue gloves that rested gently in her lap over a large, oversized book.

“My name is Igor, and I am the proprietor of this room.” The man spoke. His voice was creepy, yet polite and relaxing. It sounded like something he would hear in a horror movie from a murderous hotel owner… but he couldn't help but feel relaxed, despite that.

“This,” He said gesturing to the woman next to him, “is my assistant, Wanda.”

“A pleasure.” He voice was elegant yet reserved. Professional, maybe? “Please refer to me by my full title as Wanda, The Scarlet Witch.” Scarlet Witch?

“You are currently in the velvet room, a place that exists outside time, reality, and consciousness. You have been brought here because soon you will face a trial, one that may become a tragedy. You are here because my master believes you may be able to overcome the sad fates that await you and the other souls intertwined with yours. If you wish to try to change the outcome we may be able to help, if you are willing to form a contract with me.”

“... Do… do I have to give you my soul?”

Igor chuckled. “No. All you must do is promise that you will accept the consequences of your actions, and that you will face the responsibilities that comes with that. We have no desire to harm you or to steal anything important from you.”

Billy stared at him. This… this was strange. Tragedy? He… wasn't sure what Igor was warning him about, and he could tell he wouldn't tell him if he asked, but… well tragedy didn't sound good. And if all Igor wanted was for him to face the consequences of his actions, although he wasn't fully clear what those consequences might be. Still…

“If you accept, you simply need to write you name in our registry,” Igor said gesturing to a small sheet of paper in what appeared to be a fancy binder. It hadn't been there before. Signing, Billy picked up a pen that also mysteriously appeared on the table and wrote his name.

“Well then,” Igor said as he finished, “Young Mr. Billy Kaplan has entered a contract with us. There is much for us to do, but for now it is time for you to go. We shall see you again soon.”

“Thank you for visiting the Velvet room,” Wanda said politely, as the room began to get dark.

****  
Billy was jerked awake. He took a moment to remember his surroundings.

“Sorry, did we wake you Billy?” His mom said sweetly. “We just took a sharp turn, but we're almost there.”

“The new house?” Billy asked. 

“... Where else? Anyway I just got a call from dad that said he’s about half an hour behind us with the moving truck, so we’ll probably beat him there. GPS says we’re only ten minutes away.”

“Oh.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Listen… I know it's hard, moving to a new school your Sophomore year of highschool, but I promise your father and I are doing what we think is best.”

“I know.” Billy tried to hide the fact that he was upset about the move from his parents. It hadn’t worked as well as he hoped. 

“And… well our hours won’t be much better here, but at least we’ll be close to family, and your father and I should have a little more time off to spend with you.”

“But you’ll still be busy?”

“Yeah, we’ll still have a lot of work to do, and your father and I might not even get a chance to see much of each other for a while, but it'll be ok. And we both have sundays off, and…”

Billy zoned out as his mother continued talking. It was more of the same. He had hoped their new jobs and promotions would give him a chance to see more of them, but that didn't seem to be the case. 

“Here we are!” His mother said excited. Billy looked up to see their new house. It was… nice. They had moved to new york city, but had moved into a smaller, upscale neighborhood, one with an actual lawn and what looked like a backyard. “Let's go inside!”

Billy followed her inside. It was dark and empty, There were a few pieces of furniture that his father had sent over a few weeks ago, but beyond that it was no different from the Velvet room… except it was real.

“This place will be lovely when we're done with it.”  
*****  
Unpacking had taken a few days. Not much had happened. His mother and father continually tried to sell the house to him, reminding him of all the new friends he would make on his first day of school. Billy wasn't as hopeful as they were, but he had no choice but to see how everything played out.

Despite living in a suburb, it didn't take long for Billy to reach the subway station. Unfortunately figuring out how to navigate the station was another issue. It was so crowded and he couldn't figure out where to go. People were pushing and shoving and he had forgotten what the name of the stop he needed to get off. 

“You going to Steve Rogers High?”

Billy looked up at the muscular boy in front of him. He stared at the blonde, blue eyed, pierced boy for a second, before realising he had been asked a question.

“Yeah, I'm new,” he said sheepishly. 

“I can tell,” said the mysterious boy as he held out his hand. “Im Teddy. Come with me if you want to live.”

Billy cautiously took it and let teddy guide him through the station. He listened intently as Teddy explained how to navigate the subway.

“So… you excited for your first day?” Teddy asked, trying to speak over the noise of the crowd around them.

Scrambling to think of something positive to say about the school he said, “Yeah. I'm a little nervous but I heard they have a really good library.” Crap. This kid might have piercings, but he’s wearing a football jersey. Billy had just shot himself in the foot within two minutes.

Teddy laughed. “Ive heard its pretty big.. I'm usually too busy with practice to go in there, but I’m sure you can find anything you want in there. Theres also a public library not to far from school if you can’t.”

“Cool.” They were talking about libraries. He was never going to make any friends, was he? Trying to save himself he asked, “So you play football?”

“Yep. I’m a captain.”

“You're the captain?”

“Oh, no. We’re called the captains, after Steve Rogers nickname back in World War II, but i'm not captain,” Teddy explained, “Yeah, it's confusing. I'm a Sophomore, but I managed to get onto the varsity team last year. Im hoping we'll be able to make it to the championships this year. We haven't done it in five years, but i'm hoping the Captains can make it all the way this year.”

“Yeah, I hope they do.” 

Teddy smile and the two of them became silent for a minute. Well, as silent they could be in a crowded subway. A really crowded subway. Had… had he missed how crowded this place was? He didn't like crowds.

“Take a deep breath.”

Billy turned his attention back to Teddy and realised he had been breathing heavily. Listening to Teddy's advice he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

“Sorry. I'm not good with crowds.” Which Is why I didn't want to move to New York, he thought. 

“Yeah, I noticed earlier. It's why I grabbed you.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Don't worry. We're almost there.”

Billy nodded. After a few minutes the subway stopped and Teddy gently grabbed billy’s hand again, trying to guide him out. Billy tried to focus on his feet, but someone in the crowd surrounding them accidentally bumped him, causing him to fall over. Noticing that some people had turned to look he panicked, quickly getting up and dashing to the closest turnstyle. He quickly pulled out his student ID and tried to insert it into the slot.

“Billy that one doesn’t work. Its why there's no one in this lane-”

The turnstyle light blinked green, and Billy pushed through it. The lights went out as he crossed it, and when they came back on he found himself in a now empty station. Billy stood there for a minute before his phone began to ring. 

“Hello,” said a familiar voice. “My master has asked me to contact you and to inform you that your journey has began. Please do not despair or panic, for you are not alone. We shall meet again soon.”

She hung up. Billy had assumed that strange room had been a dream, but if that woman, Wanda, called him then maybe it was real? Or maybe this was another dream. As he tried to think he noticed that his phone had no reception here. He knew he had a signal on the subway earlier… and how could she have called him if he didn’t?

Before he could question it any further he heard a turnstile begin to turn and Teddy suddenly walked through it, appearing from nowhere. 

“Woah.” Teddy looked around before turning to Billy. “Know where we are?”

“Nope. Is this… normal for New York?”

“Nope. Maybe we can go back the way we came?” Teddy turned around a put his ID into the slot. It blinked red before an automated message played.

“Your entrance to the real world is currently closed due to weather, phase of the moon, events in the human world, or interference due to mysterious forces. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

“...”

“What?” Teddy asked. “What did she mean by real world? Where else can we be?”

“I… I don’t know. Maybe someone will come and get us? People had to notice us disappear, right?”

“No. Outside of me, no one seemed to realise you disappeared, even the people who saw you fall and were watching us didn’t react to your disappearance.”

“Oh… Wait? Why did you come after me?”

Teddy blushed. “I was worried about you.”

Now Billy was blushing. “Th-thanks. So what do we do now?”

“Well, if we go up the stairs we will only be a few minutes away from the school. Maybe we can get some answers if we go there? I don’t think staying here will do anything.”

Billy nodded. “Yeah, ok. 

“The following is a public service announcement,” came a voice over the PA system. It was the same voice as the one from the turnstyle, “If you hear the sound of rattling chains beware. This is the sound of the Reaper. Do fear the Reaper. Do not fight or hide from the Reaper. Run away. It cannot enter safe areas or travel between different zones. This has been a public service announcement.”

Billy could tell that message had freaked Teddy out a bit, and since Teddy had calmed him down he thought he should do the same with a joke. “Don’t worry, Seasons don't fear the reaper  
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are.”

“Huh?”

“It's a reference to an old song my mom likes… By Blue Oyster Cult.” That hadn't worked. Nervous, Billy began talking faster. “People thought it was about suicide but it's actually about the death of a lover. Do you watch Saturday Night Live? They did a sketch about it called More Cowbell with Christopher Walken and I- Sorry, I'm not helping am I?”

Teddy laughed. “No, but it's nice seeing you talk like that.”

“Like what?”

“All nervous and nerdy. Its cute.”

Did… did Teddy just call him cute?Trying to change the subject billy asked, “How long do these stairs go?”

“Well, in the “real world” we would be outside already… I don’t know.” Teddy said, before being interrupted by the sounds of chains rattling behind him.

Billy and Teddy turned to see a dark, cloaked figure hovering just a few feet behind them. It was clutching a scythe in its hand as it floated its way to them. The two of them looked at each other before they began running up the stairs. 

Neither of them dared to look back as they ran further and further up the seemingly endless stairs. They could tell from the clanking chains that it wasn't far from them. After a few minutes that felt like hours they could finally see the top of the stairs. As the ran up and out of the subway they heard the chains halt behind them. Turning around they saw the Reaper staring (assuming it had eyes under its hood) at them, but not chasing them.

“I guess getting outside meant we entered a different zone.” Teddy.

Billy nodded as he gasped for air. After a few minutes of catching their breath they continued to walk toward the school. When they finally reached the school they noticed that a series of turnstiles blocked of the steps to the school.  
Teddy pulled out his student ID yet again only to be met with another automated message.

“This location is currently available due to instability. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Teddy decided to ignore the message and jump over it, only to hit an invisible wall. 

“Shit!” he said as he fell backwards.

“Are you ok?!” Billy ran forward and held out his hand to Teddy, who took it and let Billy pull him up.

“Yea, i’m-”

“An idiot.”

The duo flinched before trying to locate the unknown voice. There was no one else around that they could see.

“Honestly, attempting to bypass a barrier by jumping over it is idiotic.”

“Who’s there?” Billy asked.

Suddenly a green cat jumped out in front of the two of them from behind a few trash cans. It wore a small gold collar around his neck. 

“I’m Loki,” The cat said, “Who the hell are you two?”

“A talking cat?” Teddy asked incredulously.

“I'm not a cat. Im Loki!”

“Loki the norse god of lies and deceit?” Billy asked, with noticeable excitement in his voice.

“The one and only.” Loki’s voice was full of pride.

“So why are you a cat?” Teddy asked, slightly annoyed at the newcomer.

“Because my stepfather's a dick.”

“Huh?”

“Loki was adopted by Odin and raised as the brother of Thor, but Loki was actually the child of the frost giant Laufey, and Loki always felt like he didn't fit in before he found out, so he was always causing trouble. After he found out he went of the deep end and starting doing really bad things and-”

“Yeah, my stepfather’s a dick. This is my punishment. Until I can prove I've learned my lesson and completed my rehabilitation i'm stuck like this, as a weak powerless,cat, who apparently has to ask to humans for help.”

“Why do you need our help?”

“My persona’s incapable of fighting right now, so I'll need you two to help me with yours.”

“Persona?” Billy and Teddy shared a look. “What's that?”

“What?! How did you two get here if you don't have personas? That isn't possible!”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I almost had a panic attack in the subway and then accidentally came here.”

“I just followed him.” Teddy said simply.

“...” Loki thought for a moment. “I see. Then you must be special,” he said looking at Billy, “And you must just be some idiot who got dragged along. Let's leave the idiot behind and i'll explain what's going on.”

“Hey!”

“Loki, Teddy, lets all be friendly here.”

“Be friendly? What are you, a child?” Loki mocked. “I need your help to save her and prove myself.”

“Her?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Teddy snapped, “He’s a god of lies, right? He’s probably behind all of this. He’ll kill us as soon as he has a chance. Lets ditch him instead.”

“Ditch me? If you two don’t have persona’s you have no way of surviving this place. You’ll need my persona's ability to detect shadows to- crap, they're here!”

“Who’s here?”

“Shadows! We need to run-”

Loki was cut off by the sudden appearance of several floating black orbs surrounding them. They orbs opened what appeared to be mouths, with long, terrifying tongues sticking out as they slowly closed in on them. 

“What the hell are these?!” Teddy shouted, trying to find a way to get past them.

“Shadows! Damn it! We need a plan fast, otherwise I have to leave you behind. 

Were going to die Billy thought, looking at the monsters before him. 

 

“Do you accept your death here, Billy Kaplan?” Suddenly, yet another mysterious voice appeared out of nowhere. It was familiar, almost sounded like his own voice, but more confident and wilder, as it boomed around them.

“Do you accept your fate here, trapped in this parallel world? Do you accept death before your journey has begun?”

“N- No.” Billy said.

“Do you believe you can change your fate as you are now? So timid and weak? If you speak so weakly I can only assume you lack the conviction to set yourself free.”

“No!” Billy shouted loudly, “I don't want to die!”

“Then form a contract with me, with yourself. All who form these contracts must accept themselves, and promise to move forward, to push beyond their weakness and fears, to remain true to their hearts. Will you do this?”

“Yes!”

“Then let us begin,” The voice said, a hint of amusement in it. “I am thou,” it began.

“Thou art I,” Billy continued, not knowing how he knew what he was supposed to say, but feeling confident as he spoke.

“Now cry my name unto the heavens and release my power!”

“I speak your name to seal our contract, Wiccan!”


	2. Wiccan, Hulkling, and Loki Assemble!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teddy doesn't trust Loki, but Billy thinks Loki might know how to get them home.

“Do you accept your death here, Billy Kaplan?”

“So thats his name… whats going on?” Teddy asked the cat.

“Shh! Be quiet or you'll interrupt the ritual.”

“...Wiccan!”

Billy held his hand out as a strange card appeared in front of him. He opened his hand then closed it, clausing the card to shatter, before a strange boy appears in front of him. He looked like Billy, but he was dressed differently, wearing a torn red cloak and a helmet with wings on the side. He was also holding a silver staff in one hand.

“I am Wiccan, the facade with which you shall face this tainted world!” it spoke in the same mysterious voice Billy had heard earlier, although now it was slightly quieter, didn't boom like it had before.

Wiccan became quiet although Billy could feel his presence in his head, waiting for some kind command. Somehow Billy understood what to do.

“Zio!” He shouted, and watched as a bolt of lightning shot out of Wiccan’s hand and hit one of the shadows, causing it to dissipate as black smoke. It then flew forward striking one with his staff causing another shadow to disappear.

 

“I don't understand what's going on, but this is good, right?” Teddy asked Loki.

“Of course, it’s- Look out!” Loki pounced at Teddy’s chest with enough force to knock him don, causing him to just avoid getting splashed by saliva from one of the black shadows. The saliva landed on the ground nearby, causing the sidewalk it hit to decay.

“These things have acid saliva?”

“Yeah, they're weaker than most shadows but they can still kill you. Watch out.” Loki said annoyed. 

The shadow that had attacked moved forward, before Wiccan blasted it away. Wiccan then quietly faded away. Teddy stood up and looked at Billy.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, I think. I don't know what I just did.” He admitted.

“You awoke the power of your persona, and now you can help me.” Loki said simply.

“Help you do what?” 

“Forget that. First this cat needs to explain where we are and what that thing was. Then he can ask for our help!”

“His. I can ask for his help after I tell him everything he wants to know. You're useless to me, muscles. Besides I saved your life, so show me a little gratitude. I am a god after all. But we don’t have time for questions now anyway. She’s almost out of time.”

“She?” Billy asked.

“The girl I'm here to save. I figured if I saved her Odin would change me back.Who wouldn't change me back after I saved a little girl. But my persona can’t fight, so I need Billy’s help.”

“Ok.” Billy said simply. Maybe saving this girl was the only way for him to get back home. Besides, Billy...may have wanted to be a hero all his life and… well standing around wasn't going to do anything.

“Ok?!” Teddy snapped. “You said he's a god of lies. You can't trust him, he's probably the reason we were brought here.”

“Teddy, Im sorry. I know this isn't a good plan, but he's the only other person here. This might get us out of here, and If there's a chance it will I have to take it. After all, it's my fault you got stuck here. I couldn't forgive myself if you were trapped here because of me.”

“Billy it's not your fault i'm here. I chose to follow you. But I need you to stop and think. We can’t just follow him without knowing more. Please trust me.” Teddy pleaded.

“I promise ill tell you everything if you help me, i'll even help find a way to get you home.”

Teddy opened his mouth but Loki cut him off.

“We know, I'm a god of lies, but i never break a promise. I may try to screw people with the wording, but i'll never break it. So how’s this. Help me try to save her and i'll tell you what you want and do my best to get you home. Deal?”

Teddy and Loki looked at Billy for a moment, waiting for his response. Teddy had helped him out today, had been his knight in shining armor. Loki, on the other hand, had useful information and … well, Billy was a little worried about this “little girl” he kept mentioning. Billy sighed.

“Sorry Teddy. Loki’s still our best chance. Let's go save this girl.”

“Well, i'm going to look for a way out instead.” Teddy said, a little hurt.

“Sorry.” Billy said as he and Loki ran off.  
****  
“Were here.” Loki said as he and Billy reached an empty playground.

“I don't see anyone else here.” It was empty. A little creepy when Billy considered how busy it would be if in the real world.

“I can sense her here somewhere… there. “ Loki said, running off toward a nearby jungle gym.Billy followed and saw a small girl crying inside it. Not sure what do Billy went to talk to her.

“Hi. Im Billy. What's your name.” He said as he crawled inside and crouched down by here.

“M-Molly.” She sobbed.

“Why are you crying Molly?”

“There's a monster outside.”

Billy was about to tell her otherwise before he remembered the shadows and the Reaper. But he didn't see anything around them at the time, and Loki did mention that he could sense the shadows.

“I don’t think any monster is here right now. Do you want to help me find a way home?”

“No.”

Before Billy could ask why not, Loki hissed at something. Turning around he saw… Molly standing outside the jungle gym. Something was different about her though. It was kind of like him and Wiccan, but something about this was...off.

“Why won’t you talk to me?” Molly two whined.

“Go away!” Molly one shouted back.

“I just want to talk to you. I'm sad about what our parents did too.”

“They aren't your parents. They’re my parents.

“But I’m you.”

“No, You're not!”

Molly two started crying. Billy was about to ask Loki what was going on when he hissed.

“Get ready. Something’s happening.”

Molly two’s crying slowly turned into some sort of terrifying laughter. The same dark smoke that the shadows from earlier had turned into was swirling around her, and she began to disappear as the smoke took the form of a massive… frog? It was pink, not unlike the hat Molly wore.

“If you want to be mean then fine!” she cried. “If you don't like me then I don't like you!”

“Summon your persona!” Loki shouted.

Billy nodded, reaching out his hand and called Wiccan back out. Following Billy’s commands Wiccan began shooting lightning at the enemy. However, unlike the previous enemies this one was barely fazed by it. Even worse, it shot back a lightning spell of its own, landing a direct hit on Wiccan. Billy felt a sudden rush of pain in his chest, as if someone had just sucker punched him. 

Do… do i feel Wiccan’s pain? He wondered, before Loki interrupted,

“This is bad. ITs strong against lightning. Even if Wiccan is too, Molly’s shadow is still stronger than him, so if you keep attacking she'll win. We need a plan.”

Wiccan flew over to attack it with his staff, the shadow simply shrugged off his attack before knocking him away, sending him flying back and crashing into the jungle gym Billy and Molly were in.

“That hurt.” Billy said. “I've only got two attacks, lightning and hitting it, and neither is working. What do we do?”

“I… I don’t know.” Loki said as the frog glared at them, before shooting another lightning spell at Wiccan.

“We can try and grab Molly and run, but I think that shadow will be able to keep up.”

Another spell hit Wiccan. Billy didn't know how many more hits he could take. Another spell stuck him. And another. And another. And another, this time causing him to fall backward. It seemed like the frog was preparing to finish him off, when Billy heard something strike its back.

Billy looked up and the shadow turned around to see Teddy staring it down. For a second Billy was happy to see him, until he realized Teddy was probably going to die now. 

“Idiot. Did he think throwing an old can was going to hurt that thing?” Loki hissed.

“Billy, Loki, take her and run. Ill distract this thing.” Teddy said. 

“No,” Billy stood up. “I'm not letting you die for me.” He mustered everything he had and order Wiccan to fly at the shadow, striking its back. But the shadow just began hopping towards Teddy.

“Well i'm not letting you die for me either!” Teddy shouted. Suddenly a voice echoed around them. 

“But as you are, you will die here.” It was Teddy’s voice but twisted. It had the same crazed confidence that Wiccan’s had, but something was different. This voice was a little more… effeminate? 

“If you want to live we can forge a contract, but you must make me a promise.”

“What is it?”

“ To survive the real world you hide me away. You did not outright reject me, but you still hide me away. I wish to see the sun, to be free. Let me, let these aspects of yourself out like you have done today.”

Teddy blushed a little bit, but answered back. “I… I can do that. It'll be hard, but… pretending to be someone else isn't living. It's just surviving. I want to be myself.”

“I know. I know how you feel, after all.” Billy swore he could hear Teddy’s shadow smirking at him. It just wanted to hear him say how he felt out loud.

“I won’t be afraid of who I am any longer!”

“Then let's begin.... I am Thou-”

“Thou art I”

“Now Speak my name and release the power within your heart.”

“I’ll call your name to seal our contract, Hulkling!”

A card appeared in front of Teddy like it did with Billy, but unlike Billy, Teddy chose to shatter his card by punching it. Above Teddy appeared… well Teddy, except green, with wings, and wearing tight purple suit. It looked interesting.

“Garu!” Teddy shouted, as Hulkling flapped his wings, and a strange visible green wind appeared below the frog shadow that had been slowly hopping towards him. It let out a pained cry and fell to the ground.

“Now!” Loki Shouted. “Launch an All-Out-Attack!”  
“Hope that means beat the crap out of it while it's down!” Teddy shouted as he sent his persona in to attack. Feeling a second wind after seeing Teddy awaken his persona, Billy sent Wiccan in as well. As Wiccan struck the enemy with his staff Billy noticed the attack had more of an impact than before.

“Its weak against wind, which Muscles hit him with. When you hit a shadow, or a person, with its weakness you'll hurt it more, and you might knock it down. It's a little weaker while knocked down, so your attacks can hurt it while it's down.” Loki explained, understand his confusion.

“Like a videogame.” Billy said, a little excited, forgetting that this was a life or death situation for a moment.

“Sure,” Loki responded, “Fall back, it's about to get up!”

Billy and Teddy obeyed, and their personas jumped back just in time before the shadow jumped back up. 

“How could you tell that?” Billy asked.

“My persona can’t fight, but it can sense something's, to an extent. It's a support type. I can tell it was gathering strength to get back up,” Loki said proudly, “Now knock it down one more time and finish it off!”

With a nod to Billy to confirm their strategy, Teddy cast another wind attack at the shadow, but this time it jumped out of the way. It began bouncing around the playground, shaking the ground a little bit as it did.

“I can’t hit it like this!”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Loki called out. “Be ready to attack when it stops. Billy, focus on that swing set across from us, and when I say so shoot lightning at it.”

“But… my attacks don’t hurt it!”

“Trust me!”

Billy agreed and moved Wiccan into position. The shadow continued to bounce around, as if it was looking for an opening to attack. 

“Now!”

Wiccan sent a bolt of lightning at the swings, but the shadow, bouncing around randomly accidentally ran into the attack mid jump, causing it to trip for a second. Unlike with teddy’s attack this was only a momentary distraction, but Teddy was able to hit it with a wind attack before it moved again, and the two sent their persona’s into finish the job. Hulkling finished it off with one huge, dramatic punch, and its body disappeared, leaving only Molly’s shadow.

Molly, who had mostly watched the fight quietly, stood up and ran over to her shadow. The two stared at each other for a moment before Molly spoke.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I was angry. Mom says we say mean things when we get angry.”

“Well i'm mad at mom right now. She didn't tell us she was a bad person.”

“I know. I didn't want mom to think I hated her or dad, but I'm so angry. We moved all the way from L.A. and then we find out Mom and dad stole from people. Hurt people. We don’t have any friends or family here. I hate it.”

“I know.”

“Yeah, cuz you're me.”

Shadow Molly smiled, before she began to glow blue and disappear into the sparkling blue lights that floated over to Molly, who began to glow before floating up and then shooting up into the sky in a flash of light. Teddy walked over to Billy and Loki, looking up at the sky as he did.

“What happened?”

“That girl, Molly was brought her by her shadow while she slept. The drama with her parents had caused her a great deal of stress, so her shadow tried to contact her. Unfortunately, when Molly got her she argued with her shadow and as a result her shadow refused to allow her to leave. When she said her shadow wasn’t her just now, it snapped and lost control of itself, and tried to kill her. But I guess she realized it was- no she realized she had to accept it after she saw how she made her shadow feel. So her shadow became a persona and allowed her to leave and return to her sleeping body in the human world.”

“So she was in a coma… and now she'll wake up?” Billy asked trying to confirm what Loki had said. Then he realized what Loki had said. “What, does that mean-”

“No, she doesn't have the potential to wield a persona right now. Simply turning a shadow into a persona does not make you a persona user. She also won’t remember this, at least not consciously. She might be a little different when she wakes up based on her experience here, but she’ll have forgotten all about this place.”

“Thats for the best. This place might give her nightmares.” Billy felt a little relieved to know Molly wouldn't be scared for life after seeing herself turn into a giant frog monster that tried to kill her.

“I know I promised to explain everything to you afterwards, But I think it'd be best for me to get you two back to your world for now. I think I felt something change over by the school a moment ago, you might have a way back home.”

Billy could tell Teddy was suspicious that a way home appeared right now, but Billy supposed it could have been a coincidence, or maybe something other than Loki was keeping them in this place until they helped him. Either way, he wanted to go home before anything else tried to kill them. 

“It's a good thing we came along when we did. Any longer and she would have died.” Billy said, trying to break the awkward silence as they walked back to the school.

“I told you we didn't have time!” Loki said smugly. “And actually, she wouldn't have died. Her physical body is still in the real world, so only her mind would have been affected. She would have become a mindless body, who was only capable of maintaining a few basic functions as long as she's attached to a machine, but she wouldn't have died. We would have died, but she would still be alive.”

“Lovely.” Teddy said uncomfortably.

“Had her shadow killed Molly’s mind then she would have faded away with it. It's kind of sad how self destructive shadows can be. But I suppose that's just the human psyche.”

“Thats kind of sad.” Billy said.

“Yep. although I have to say I find you humans fascinating. It's so cool how you can destroy yourselves despite the efforts of everyone around you, and despite even your own efforts to prevent it.”

“...”

“I love the how unpredictable you all are. “

Billy felt a little weirded out by what Loki had said, but knowing about Loki’s interest, maybe even respect, for humans made Billy feel as if he understood him a bit better. Then everyone stopped moving and things went dark again. Wanda’s voice spoke in his head.

I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new bond. Now, with the blessing of the Devil Arcana, Thou shalt obtain the power to change the fates around you.

Devil: 1

Suddenly everything changed back to normal, and the others were walking again, Loki continuing to talk about his interests in humans. Billy stood and watched for a moment, before shrugging and writing it off as another question he’d have to ask Loki, or Wanda and Igor whenever he saw them again. Eventually they reached the school. Teddy tried the turnstyle again, only to receive the same message as before. 

“Try this one,” Loki said, pointing his paw at a separate turnstyle away from the others. Teddy obeyed.

“We thank you for your stay in this world, and wish you the best of luck in the Real world.” 

Teddy put his card in again to make sure, and the same message played.

“Ok, so i'm going to go. I'll keep an eye on things here for now, and meet you later if anything changes, unless Odin decides to change me back after my heroic work today. Tomorrow after school, i'm assuming you're in school, we can meet.”

“Sure, school gets out around 3:30.” Billy said.

“I have practice until 5:30 every weekday.” teddy added, “So maybe 6Pm?”

The trio agreed and Loki ran off, promising to explain more to them tomorrow. Teddy turned to Billy, blushing nervously.

“Listen… I'm sorry for getting mad about you running off with the cat earlier.”

“It's ok, he was kind of a jerk to you. I'm sorry for bringing you here, to this...weird parallel world.”

“Hey, I had fun hanging out with you. And, trying not to die with you was fun too.” Teddy joked, but Billy could tell he meant it.

“Yeah, well, I had fun too…”

“And...um...I”

“Whats up?” Billy hadn't expected Teddy to be the one at a loss for words. 

“What my Persona said… I'm not normally comfortable… being myself around people, but when I saw you I… was.”

Billy wasn't sure who was blushing harder right now. 

“So… since we almost died together today I feel like maybe it wouldn't be too weird if I asked you… to be my “Being myself” coach? Since, you seem… ok with who you are? Like you're shy and all, but I think you're ok being yourself and maybe… you could teach me to do the same?”

Billy blinked. They had just met, but someone this didn't feel that weird. It wasn't the guilt of almost getting them killed today either, he really did want to do this. To help Teddy. He liked Teddy. And he would like Teddy to like Teddy to.

“Sure. I would love to teach you.”

“Cool.” Teddy said, grabbing Billy in a deep, lung crushing hug. It felt nice. He felt saf-

I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new bond. Now, with the blessing of the Magician Arcana, Thou shalt obtain the power to change the fates around you.

Magician: 1

Billy blinked. Teddy, let go, backing off.

“Sorry, I uh…”

“No, I liked it. Just caught me off guard.” Billy said. “But, lesson number one, if you want to show affection, you should feel comfortable doing so.”

Teddy nodded seriously, as if he was taking this advice to heart.

“Shall we?” Billy asked, gesturing toward the turnstyle. Teddy nodded and put his inserted his card and left. Billy followed suit, and found himself standing outside his new school, although this time he could see and hear the people around him. He and teddy looked at each other and sighed, just happy to be back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hadn't fully planned out how this universe would work yet, since each 3,4, and 5 have different set ups for dungeons, so the shadow self-acceptance from P4 doesn't come up a whole lot.
> 
> That said I really liked the P5 shadow awakening cut scenes. 4 also had a nice set up, but for now I don't have anything planned for the party members to confront their shadows...yet.
> 
> I would also like to clarify that I do most of my writing at 1am on weekends lol.


	3. Our adventures in that world are not dun(geon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy makes a new friend, learns fusion, and Loki explains why he needs their help.

Teddy and Billy’s joy at returning to the real world was interrupted by someone suddenly clearing their throat behind them. Turning around Billy saw two boys behind them, one black, bald, and staring at them with annoyance. The other, light skinned, with messy brown hair, seemed more relaxed. Billy noticed Teddy’s smile vanish and he could tell the other boy was onguard.

“Nate? Eli? Is something the matter?” Teddy’s voice was relaxed, but it lacked the friendly atmosphere it had earlier. 

“That's Nathaniel-” The brown haired one said.

“And Elijah” Said the bald one. “And as your student council president-”

“And Vice president-” Nathaniel spoke.

“We are here to punish criminals, and preserve the honor and integrity of Steve Rogers High!” They finished together. Billy wondered if they had rehearsed this. It seemed a bit dramatic for his taste.

“Hi… Im Bi-”Elijah cut Billy off.

“Billy Kaplan, We know.” Elijah turned his attention to Teddy. “Theodore Altman, we want to remind you that you're a well respected member of Steve Rogers High, and your position on the football team makes you a well known representative of our school in the community and-”

“Can you guys keep this short please?” Teddy said, clearly annoyed.

“We just want to remind you to stay clear of any... “Nate glared at Billy as Elijah continued to speak, “negative influences. Like a new kid who causes you to come to school two hours late. Unless there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for you two being late?”

“Well…” Teddy said, clearly trying to think if an excuse. They certainly couldn't tell the two of them the truth, could they? Could they? Could just anyone enter that place? Loki mentioned needing a persona, but neither he or Teddy- He returned to reality when he noticed Teddy looking around at him for an idea.

“I had a panic attack on the subway, and Teddy here helped me calm down.” It wasn't technically a lie. 

“Two hours late because of a panic attack?” Elijah clearly wasn't buying it.

“Well, I uh…”

“Dude, back off. He doesn't need your shit right now.” Teddy snapped. “Can we go? Or do you want to take us downtown and interrogate us at the station?” When he saw Billy’s face he added, “I'm kidding, they can’t take us to prison for being late, although I'm sure Eli wishes he could.”

“Just watch yourselves. I won’t let any troublemakers ruin the good name of -”

Teddy grabbed Billy’s and pulled him inside as Nate and Eli began another speech. 

“That was…”

“Yeah they're intense. Anyway, we should get to third period before class starts.,” Teddy said looking at the clock. “Need me to show you the way to your class?”

Billy nodded and pulled out the sheet of paper he with his schedule that he’d carried around all day. Teddy went over how to navigate to his classes. They even had a class together at the end of the day. 

“So that's how to get around. I should go, but… Do you want to sit with me at lunch? I eat with the team, but they don't mind if other people join us.”

“I..uh… sounds like a lot of people. I think i'll just look for an empty place to hide out.”

Teddy looked a little disappointed but said. “That's cool, I understand. I'll still see at the end of the day.”

“Yeah.”  
****  
The lunchroom was packed. There were way too many people around for Billy to think. This was not good. This was really bad and he- he saw an almost empty table and tried to nonchalantly rush over there. The blonde girl at the table gave him a look and then returned to her food.

They sat in silence for a moment, Billy slowly trying to calm himself down, trying to drown out the noise and think. The girl next to him watched for a moment before speaking.

“Cassie Lang, daughter of master thief Scott Lang.”

“Billy Kaplan, son of… Rebecca Kaplan, psychologist.”

She sighed. “I'm trying to tell you my dad’s a criminal.”

“So?” Billy asked, confused. 

“So, most people keep their distance. It's probably not a good idea for you to eat with my, unless you don’t want a social life.”

Oh. “Well… I'm eating here because large crowds of people scare me. Give me two or three friends and I'm fine.”

“Ah. Well I guess you can eat here then. I wouldn't mind the company and you can use me to avoid people.”

“A mutually beneficial arrangement then.” Billy joked. It was an old deal, but he would be happy with it. Besides, Teddy was surrounded by his football buddies, and Billy was not sure he could handle them, even with his new friend at his side.

“...sure.”

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Teddy motioned for Billy to sit up front next to him during their last class. He introduced him to his friend Greg, who gave him an odd look. Billy felt nervous, but at least he was with Teddy and being upfront meant he didn't have to look at the crowded classroom. Teddy and Greg ran off to practice when the bell rang, but Teddy asked if Billy would meet him after and take the subway back with him. Billy agreed, figuring he could check out the school's library for a bit.

Just outside the library, however., he saw Wanda, standing next to a glowing blue door. The light it was made of was faint. No one seemed to notice her or the door. She waved to Billy before gesturing towards the door, then opening it and walking through. Billy sighed, but followed her. He was tired, but he still wanted answers.

When he crossed through the door he found himself sitting in the same seat he was in earlier, just across the table from Wanda and Igor.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor greeted him. “Congratulations are in order. Today you have begun the long and difficult path to change your fate, and the first of many, many “bad endings” have been avoided. But there is still much for you to do. Fortunately we are here to assist.”

“The persona you wielded possessed an incredible power, but its power alone is not infinite. Fortunately, your potential is,” Wanda said. “The bonds you formed today have awaken additional personas within your heart.”

“What?” 

“It's not common,” Wanda spoke, causing Billy to wonder if she could read his mind. “It's a rare ability known as the Wild Card. Most who possess it are brought here so that we may assist them in nurturing it.”  
“So that's what our contract is about.” Billy said. Remembering what he had wanted to ask earlier he said, “Does this have anything to do with those bonds I made with Teddy and Loki earlier?”

“Of course. Those were the first of many bonds you will form. These bonds will awaken aspects of yourself, creating new personas for you to use. Please, take your new persona’s and welcome them into your heart,” She said, gesturing to three cards on the table.

Billy picked up the middle card first. It had a picture of a small pumpkin wearing a witches hat and holding a lantern. At the bottom of the card the word Magician was written. Suddenly the card disappeared, and he could hear a new presences in his head, next to Wiccan. He suddenly new the name of his new persona, Pyro Jack.

He picked up the Devil card next, welcoming Incubus in. He picked up the third card, but noticed something off about it. It looked like a small fairy, but the card said Lovers. Billy hadn't formed a Lovers bond…

“That's different. That persona was awakened by your actions today, rather than a new bond. However, it's still an aspect of you that was awakened. 

Billy nodded as he felt Pixie’s presences join the others. It was weird having these other presence in his mind. Weird, but comforting. He didn't mind it. He could feel Wiccan was happy too, while Pixie flew around happily and Jack frost and Incubus “spoke” to each other.

“We can also perform fusions, where we turn to personas into a new one, but only if your heart is strong enough and your bonds are able to guide the fusion properly. The personas used in the fusion will then return to the Sea of Souls, but I will be able to call them back for you.”

The personas in his head were excited. Telling him to do it. Pixie and Pyro Jack were jumping up and down, and Incubus was… seductively asking Billy to fuse him. They all seemed to want to fuse with Wiccan.

“Let's do a trial attempt, if you are willing.”

“Sure… Maybe let's do...Wiccan and Pixie?”

Wanda nodded, before moving her hands across the table, making Wiccan and Pixies cards appear. She moved the two of them together, placing both hands on them. There was a strange burst of power in Billy’s head, before Wiccan and Pixie's presences was gone. Wanda lifted her hands to reveal a single card, which she slid over to Billy. He lifted it up and felt Bicorn’s presences inside him.

“An evil demon two-horned unicorn… That's an aspect of me?” Billy asked.

“Perhaps a small one, but yes. Now, would you like me to summon Pixie and Wiccan again?” 

When Billy nodded in agreement, she pulled up the book she carried earlier and flipped it open searching to a certain page. Most of the pages were blank, and it looked sort of like an empty card binder. Eventually she reached a page with a picture of Wiccan on it. She gently touched the picture and lifted up a card out of it. She handed it to Billy and searched for Pixie’s.

“Currently I do not believe you can hold any more persona’s inside your head, so the rest will be stored with the sea of souls. I can summon any persona you have obtained or fused, but only if you have enough energy. I do not think any more fusions or summonings should occur today either. “

“Yeah…:” Billy did feel really tired, especially after the fusion.

“Starting tomorrow you are welcome to visit us of your own accord, and you will see doorways to here throughout the city. Please, come visit us whenever you wish to fuse personas, or to receive the power of your growing bonds.” Igor said. Billy nodded as the room went dark and he found himself back outside the school's library. 

****  
Billy and Teddy walked to the subway together. Teddy talked about practice and Billy talked about his first day and meeting Cassie, who Teddy had apparently never heard of. Billy didn't mention the Velvet room or his multiple personas. He was still trying to ease himself into.. All this, and then he could tell Teddy. He did notice that when he and Teddy started talking that Pyro Jack moved its way to the front of his mind, making him feel a bit more confident when talking to Teddy. Before they separated, Teddy handed Billy a piece of paper with his number on it before stating that he was going to go home and collapse. That sounded nice. Billy wanted to do that to.

“Oh, Hello Billy. Your new friends Nathan and Elijah stopped by to check up on you.”

But he didn't get to do that. As soon as he got home he saw the two kids from earlier in his living room, smiling happily next to his mother, who was practically beaming. Billy became nervous, but he could feel Wiccan and Pixie trying to calm him down. Hopefully if eh focused on them he would be ok.

“Hi.”

“Hello William,” Elijah said. “We just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“Oh i'm fine-”

“Billy, why didn't you tell us you had a panic attack again? You said they stopped, remember? You said they stopped and that's why we agreed you could quit therapy.”

“Mom… Can we not-” Billy was interrupted by the two intruders standing up.

“We should go, we don't want to intrude and on this private matter. We’ll see you tomorrow though, right, friend?” Elijah smiled politely, but it made Billy uneasy. 

After they left, and his mother invited the two of them to come back anytime she turned to Billy.

“So, Therapy. I've set up an appointment this sunday. She’s one of the best therapists in New York. I think she’ll-”

“I don’t want to go to therapy.” Billy said, weakly.

“Oh sweetie,” His mother gently ushered him to a chair. “I know it isn't fun, but it really is good for you, and well, what kind of mother wouldn’t do what's best for her son?”

“But… it never helps.”

“Baby, it will help this time. I'm a psychologist, I know these things. Baby, don’t you want to improve? Imagine how hard it will be for us to fit in if these attacks keep up, I don’t want you to end up friendless.”

That stung a little bit. It always felt weird, how she could be a well respected psychologist but understand so very little about him. Someone told him once that therapists raise kids who need therapists, so maybe that was true for psychologists too. 

“Speaking of friends… Those two boys seem nice. I was worried you'd make bad friends, but The student council president and vice-president are great.”

“Actually...I met a football player named Teddy.” Billy figured he should hold off on mentioning Cassie. Only immature high school students would hold her father against her… but his mom probably would too. 

“Yes, those nice boys mentioned him.” His mom’s face was hard to read, but he hoped she approved. “They said he helped you during your attack. He sounds… nice. But baby… football players tend to be troublemakers. I just want you to promise that you'll be careful around him.”

He made a quick mental remark about Teddy not being the one he had to worry about before promising to be cautious. They talked about his first day (except anything related to shadows or Personas or…), ate dinner together like a perfect loving family, watched an episode of Real Housewives together, then went off to bed. 

****  
The second day was much less eventful. He met Teddy on the subway, and the two made it to school without any issues. At lunch He and Cassie talked about what her father was doing now that he had “reformed”.

“So he’s an Ant-Man?” Billy asked excited. Cassie gave him an odd look but nodded. 

“Yeah. I thought he just made the name up though.” 

“No, it started as an insult for Hank Pym after he devoted his life to studying ant psychology, but after he made several breakthroughs it became sort of a nickname for him and his employees. They've made huge changes to the scientific community and the tools they developed to study ants are still used by the scientific community today. Even my mom, has some respect for what they've managed to achieve in the study of human and animal psychology, and she barely respects anyone in the scientific community.”

“Well, my dad mostly cleans up messes, sometimes comes home with ants crawling on him. But at least they'll hire an ex-con. Have they done anything else cool?”

Billy began listing off all the achievements and accomplishments he knew that Pym Labs had earned. The rest of the day continued as normal. He waited for in the library for Teddy to get done with practice and then the two of them waited for Loki. 

“He… He said he would meet us here, right?” Teddy asked after ten minutes. “Are we sure were not supposed to him… in the other place?”

“Maybe… I don’t know? We could try going there. I think we can get back through the turnstyle we used before” Billy said, pointing the the turnstyle near the steps. No one else seemed to notice it but them.

“Well… let's give him five more minutes then head over. I'm a little worried that he’s plotting something.” Teddy said.

“Guys, We have a problem!” Teddy and Billy turned to see a slight bruised Cat crawling out of the bushes. It sounded like Loki but its fur was black and not green. Billy ran over to him.

“What happened?”

“Last night a dungeon was formed. I tried to enter it to do recon, but I got attacked.” Loki said. 

“Dungeon?”

Loki sighed. “Thats right, youre new. Head to the other world and i'll explain.”

Teddy and Billy went through the turnstile and found themselves back in the other world. After a few moments Loki appeared, once again with green fur. Loki gestured to the school.

“That's the dungeon.” Loki said matter-of-factly.

“Thats our school.” Teddy replied.

Loki sighed. “On the outside it looks like it, but unlike you it's more than it appears. On the inside it's become a dungeon, a literal manifestation of negative emotions that its real world equivalent has absorbed.”

Teddy looked at Billy.

“People get sad or angry in school and that turned it into a dungeon here.”

Teddy nodded. “So why are we here?”

“Because, this world, the Parallel, and your world are connected to each other. This world is the collective human conscious, and is therefore changed based on the thoughts and feeling in your world. Meanwhile, events and changes in this world will cause changes in the subconscious minds of the people in your world. “

Billy nodded, and looked at Teddy, who seemed to understand as well.

“This creates a vicious cycle, and that's where the dungeon comes in. It continually gathers the negative emotions it touches, which it uses to gather people's shadows, then the negative atmosphere of the dungeon turns the shadows violent, amplifying their own negative emotions, which the dungeon absorbs, getting stronger while causing negative effects on people in the real world.”

“That's bad, right?”

“Yeah. It sounds like a lot of people will suffer from this. And who knows what people might do if these feelings get out of control.” Billy said.

“Does that mean you'll help me destroy the dungeon?” Loki asked hopefully. 

“Will anything bad happen if we destroy it?” Teddy asked.

“The negative energy will disperse to the surrounding area, but most of it will dissipate. The shadows that are gathered there will begin to wander the streets of this world again, but nothing too bad will happen. Will you help?”

Teddy looked at Billy. It felt like… he was waiting for Billy to decide what they should do. Did Teddy trust Billy that much? That felt kind of nice. But as much as Billy wanted to help, he knew Teddy was worried

“Can we look inside the dungeon before we decided? Maybe that will help us think.” Billy could tell Teddy agreed with his idea. Loki nodded approvingly.

“Of course. Once inside you'll see we need to act fast.”

Teddy cautiously put his ID into the turnstiles in front of the school gate, stood until the light blinked green. He walked through the turnstile and was followed by Billy and Loki, who simply walked underneath the gate.

When they finally entered the school, they were shocked to see the difference. Black ooze was sliding down some of the walls. Some of the lights flickered on and off, but the school was incredibly dark. It was a little colder than outside as well. Even the air in this place felt wrong, it was oppressive and cruel.

“This is… creepy.” Teddy said.

“Great observation.” Loki said snidely. “Now follow me and I'll show you what I found, but be quiet. There's a lot of shadows in this place.”

Loki began walking down the hallway, and Billy and Teddy followed. It was weird. The bright colorful motivation posters that usually lined the school's walls were dark, and instead of cheesy inspirational messages they said things like “Obey” or “a quiet student is a presentable student”.

 

“Shadows!” Loki yelled. Billy turned his attention away from the posters and too the dark, creatures before him. With a quick nod to Teddy they both summoned their personas. Wiccan and Hulkling managed to defeat them with a few quick spells.

“If that's as strong as these things get we'll be fine.” teddy said proudly.

“Don’t be an idiot, muscles. Those shadows were weak, but they can still tire you guys out. Besides, there's much stronger shadows here.” Loki remarked.

Teddy muttered something that Billy didn’t catch, but continued to follow Loki. Eventually Loki stopped in front of one of the classroom doors. 

“This one. I sense something in this one.” Loki said. The trio stood in silence for a moment. 

“Do we go in?” Billy asked.  
“I can’t open doors like this.”

“Oh, yeah.” Billy said, a little embarrassed. He opened the door and they moved inside.

“What the hell?!” Teddy asked when he saw the students inside chained to their desks. They were writing with a strange red ink, each one scribbling furiously. Walking over, Billy saw one of them writing “I will not disappoint Steve Rogers high” repeatedly. The student didn’t react to Billy’s presence near here, as if all that matter was writing that line. Looking around, Billy saw none of them had even noticed them enter.

“I know some of these people.” Teddy said, horrified. “We have to get them out of here.”

“We can’t.” Loki said.

“Why not!” 

“These are the shadows of your classmates. These ones are too weak to break free, and therefore were easily captured by the guard shadows of this dungeon. Letting them go would just lead to them getting caught again.”

“So we take them outside the dungeon.”

“They'll come back here. Shadows are drawn to dungeons, especially ones tied to their self in the real world. These students shadows will just keep coming back.”

“Damn it!” Teddy shouted. “So we can’t do anything?”

“We can destroy this dungeon. That's the only way to set them free.”

“No one is going to be free!”

Behind them, the trio saw… Elijah and Nathan? Something was off though. There eyes were yellow, and some of the black smoke that the shadows were made of swirled around them...oh.

“You're Elijah’s shadow, right?” Billy asked.

“Yeah! And you're the new troublemaker.” He turned to Teddy and said, “Theodore, please take your seat. We can forgive your transgressions against our guards earlier if you do. Then only Willam and the cat have to die.”

“What?! No way in hell is anyone dieing here.” Teddy shouted. Elijah’s shadow looked disappointed, before turning to the door.

“Guards!” He shouted. A dark blue spider shadow ran in, as Elijah and Bradley fled the room.

“Wiccan!”

“Hulkling!” 

Billy had Wiccan shot a zio spell at it, but it merely shrugged off the lightning attack. Teddy sent a wind spell at it, but it shrugged that one off as well. Then shot a bolt of lightning at Hulking, knocking him back and causing Teddy to stagger backward. Then it used a wind attack on Wiccan, causing Billy to fall.

“Crap… Its weakness is fire and it resists Lightning, Wind and Ice! We can't hit its weak point!”

The shadow attacked Hulking, causing Teddy to cry out in pain. Billy reid to stand, but he couldn't. IT wasn't that he was too hurt to do it, but he felt… staggered, as if he needed a moment to stand. Billy wondered if this was what Molly’s shadow had felt when they knocked it down. They had beaten her by exploiting its weakness, but neither Wiccan and Hulkling had fire attacks…

Suddenly Billy remember the Velvet room, and could feel one of his personas moving inside him. He stood up and held out his hand, summoning another person's card as Wiccan faded away.

“Pyro Jack!” The persona from the card appeared before him. The shadow, Teddy, and Loki all turned their attention to him. 

“Agi!” Billy shouted, as Pyro Jack threw a fireball at the shadow, sending flying against the wall. Hulkling punched through its chest before it could recover, and it disappeared.

Teddy tried to stand, but collapsed against the wall. The shadow had hurt him bad. Billy could feel another person's in his head, telling him to summon her.

“Pixie!” A tiny fairy in a blue dress appeared, she flew over to Teddy and held out her hands, emitted a gentle light when Billy said, “Dia.”

“Dude… what the hell? Wait, don’t stop, that feels nice.”

“Its healing magic… I think.” Billy said awkwardly. He knew he should have told Teddy about his wild card power earlier, but he hadn't had a chance to.

“You've got the wild card power!” Loki exclaimed happily. “I knew you were special!”

“Wild Card Power?” Teddy asked.

“He can summon multiple personas. Its rare, but not unheard of. Wild Card users have been present in some of the most significant events in recent years. The sealing of Nyx, defeat of Izanami, and most recently the work of the Phantom Thieves in Tokyo.”

“The phantom Thieves?! They're real?” Billy asked excited. “I thought it was just an internet myth, but to know they're actually real… They're like superheroes. Superheroes are real!” 

Teddy and Loki looked at him for a moment. Teddy chuckled as he stood up.

“Guess so. I feel better, thanks for healing me-”

“Need Hlz Plz res?” Bill joked.

“...yeah, but… how did you get this ability? It just seems sort of convienvent for it to activate now.”

“It was probably the adrenaline of seeing your sorry ass getting beaten up. Heck, If that's true then we found a good use for you after all, muscles. You can power Billy up by getting hurt!”

Before Billy could tell them about the velvet room, he felt his personas panic. They didn't want him to tell the others. He wasn’t sure why, but hetrusted them. 

“It just kind of happened. Must have been the adrenaline.” Billy felt bad lying to them, but he had to trust his personas first, they were supposed to be a part of himself.

Teddy seemed suspicious, but before he could say anymore, a voice came on over the intercom. 

“Will William Kaplan and and Theodore Altman please report to the cafeteria for disciplinary action.” Elijah called out.

Why the cafeteria Billy wondered.

“If you do not report, we will have to break something we've confiscated from William. And I assure you it's the real deal, not a mere shadow.”

What could they have?

“Bite me you bald bastard!” Shouted a familiar voice.

“Shit, he’s got Cassie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realized I never had a reason those Nathan and Eli were outside and not in class. They probably have special permission to patrol for troublesome students.
> 
> Also I tried to make them as extra as possible without getting too overboard.


	4. Chapter 4

“Billy, I know i'm not the smart one here, but this has to be a trap.” Teddy pleaded.

Billy was marching toward the cafeteria, undeterred by his pleas. Even if it was a trap, he couldn't let someone else die because of him. First Teddy, and now Cassie was in danger because of him. 

“Of course it's a trap, muscles!” Loki snapped. Despite agreeing with Teddy, the former god of lies couldn't act like they were on the same side. “We'll enter the cafeteria, the doors behind us will close and lock, and then a bunch of shadows will surround us. They'll kill the three of us, and then her. Think Billy!”

“Look, you don’t have to come with me,” he sighed, “but I have to get her out of here. I can’t let her die because of me.”

“But what if it isn't really her? What if it's her shadow?” Teddy asked. 

“Killing her shadow would cause a mental shutdown in here. Shed basically become a zombie.” Loki said. “But we still shouldn't go there.” He added quickly.

“Well, I have to go. You guys can head back to the entrance if you want. I'll meet you there with her.”

Teddy sighed before saying, “No, if you're doing this I am too.”

“Damn it muscles! Can’t you be useful for once!” Loki snapped. “Fine. If this is what we're doing i'll come, since you need my power, but i'm not happy.”

Teddy muttered something about not needing Loki’s help as they reached the door to the cafeteria.

“I sense a lot of shadows in there… are you ready?” Loki asked reluctantly.

Billy nodded and opened the door. The room was dark. As the trio cautiously enter the room, the door behind them swung shot, and they heard it lock. A spotlight turned on, revealing Cassie tied up to a wooden pole on top of a pile of books.

“I knew this would work,” Elijah’s voice spoke in the darkness, “Bad students are so foolish. Of course they would fall for such a simple trap!”

“Say that to my face!” Teddy roared back, preparing to summon his persona.

“Hold it right that Theodore,” Nathan said smugly, as the lights turned on to reveal that the trio was surrounded by shadows. Nathan and Elijah stood near the pile of books holding torches. “Resist even a little, and we'll burn this troublemaker.”

 

Teddy and Billy looked at each other and sighed, but lowered their hands, surrendering to the shadows.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Cassie yelled. “They're just going to burn me after they kill you. Save yourselves!”

“Don't listen to her. Unlike you two, we believe in honor and integrity.” Elijah said, shooting Cassie an aside glance. “No that the daughter of a criminal would understand that.”

“Will you burn for the sins of your father?” A voice, similar to Cassie’s spoke. “You stand on a pyre made of his crimes, not yours. Will you burn on it?”

“No! I'm sick of being trapped in his shadow. I'm not my father, and I refuse to be judged by anyone who doesn't know him- or me!” As she shouted, the ropes around around her snapped, freeing her.

“I am Thou,”

“Thou art I,”

“Now Speak my name and release the power within your heart.”

“I’ll call your name to seal our contract, Stature!” A card appeared before Cassie, then shattered itself. Above her appeared a version of herself dressed like a superhero. She wore a black and red suit, and had a small thin black mask on her face.

“Agi!” Cassie shouted as her persona threw two fireballs, the first aimed at Nathan and Elijah’s feet, causing them to fall over, while the second stuck one of the shadows surrounding Billy and the others, who used the confuse to summon their personas and attack.

“What the hell?!” Elijah screamed as the other shadows were defeated. He stood up as Nathan’s shadow scrambled to his feet and ran off, dashing through a door that shut behind him and locked again.

“How are you troublemakers able to do this?! We do you continue to fight against honor and justice!” Elijah shouted.

“Honor? Justice? Do you even know what that is?” Cassie snapped angrily.

“You're going to lecture me on honor?!” Elijah’s voice became distorted, gaining a terrifying edge to it. “I am the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, and I will defend the honor of our school with my last breath. I will not let it be desecrated by the daughter of a criminal, some whiny troublemaker, or idiotic football player!” His voice became a terrifying shriek as black smoke swirled around him, turning him into some sort of giant, green imp holding a massive red shield.

“Now die so that our school can live!” Elijah threw the shield at stature, who was knocked down as the shield bounced back to him.

“The hell?!” Cassie shouted as the pain from her persona carried over. Or maybe she was referring to Elijah becoming a giant monster. Billy couldn't really tell. He switched to Pixie and sent her to deal Cassie, while Teddy attacked Elijah.

Hulkling flew around Elijah, attempting to attack him from behind, but Elijah was able to turn fast enough to keep the shield between the two of them. Teddy tried using a garu spell, but Elijah was unfazed by it.

“The shield of Justice will never fail to protect the righteous!”

“Will you just shut the hell up about your messed up sense of justice!?” Teddy shouted back. 

“My sense of justice is messed up?! How dare you! I used to respect you!”

“And you also used to not be an asshole!” 

 

Before Elijah could answer, Stature and Pyro Jack hit him with a massive fireball, causing his shield to heat up and forcing him to drop it. Before he could pick it up again, Hulkling knocking him down with a strong strike to its back, before the three of them began beating it down.

“Despite all that talk, he turned out to be a pretty weak opponent,” Loki said as Elijah’s shadow returned to normal.

“H-How?!” He cried out. “How could you defeat me?! I had justice, I had honor! And yet the three of you defeated me?! How?! Was… was my own justice not strong enough?”

“Of course not, “ Cassie said simply. “That wasn’t justice or honor. Maybe you used to have those things, but you clearly lost them long ago. Now you just use justice and honor as an excuse to be corrupt and dishonest.”

“She’s right,” Teddy added. “You used to be a nice guy… but now, well, you've been kind of a dick. There were rumours about what you and Nate were doing… and they are true, aren't they?”

“...Yes. I… I helped get students expelled for false charges. At first I didn't want to, but the principal said if i helped get rid of them, he would help me save our school. I...I should have told him no, but I was an idiot. But what do I do?”

“Well… first stop being a dick-” Teddy began.

“Then make things right with everyone you hurt.” Cassie finished.

“... I don't know if I can do that.” Elijah's said weakly.

"You don't have a choice," Cassie said sternly. "If you really believe in justice than you have to face it. You have to admit what you did and you have to apologize to everyone you wronged."

"But... I've done so much wrong..." The shadow sobbed. "I can't face everyone. Isn't there a way to fix things without that?"

"No, not really," Billy said. Cassie and Teddy seemed surprised. "If you really understand that what you did was wrong, and you really feel remorse, then you wouldn't hesitate to own up to it."

"He's right," Teddy joined in. "You used to be a good guy. I know you still can be, but not if you try to avoid this. You can't fix what you did if you won't admit to it. You'll never feel like you did the right thing otherwise."

"My dad says we can't run from the bad things we've done. We have to forgive ourselves, and to do that we need to be honest with ourselves and everyone else. A thief can return what he stole, but if he doesn't admit to stealing it than he will never escape the weight of his own crimes."

"You.. you're right. I have to make amends. It won't be easy, but i'll try to fix things slowly. Hopefully people eventually forget what Ive done."

"They won't," Cassie said. "But they might forgive you. Eventually. I might forgive you one day too."

The shadow nodded. There was a tiny smile on his face as a gentle blue light surrounded him. He began to fasde away as the light shot into the sky. 

“...Its returned to its human counterpart. We should go.”

****

“Hey, ” Cassie said to Billy outside the turnstiles in front of the fake school. “you guys will explain all of this to me later, right? Maybe when these too calm down?” She pointed to Teddy and Loki, who were arguing loudly, completely ignoring Billy and Cassie.

“Yeah, we’ll explain everything later. Teddy and I still have a lot of questions about this place too.”

“And… um… Thanks. Not just for saving me… but for sitting with me the other day. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it's because you did that that I was able to summon that thing earlier.” Cassie looked down at her feet nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“I was used to people only seeing me for my father. I didn't like it, but I figured I could survive it until I graduated, then I could be free. But… When you talked to me… It didn't feel like you were judging me for who my dad was. I liked that feeling. I realised I didn't want to wait to be free. So… When Stature spoke to me, it's because of you I was able to give her the answer she- no, the answer I wanted.”

Billy was surprised to hear her say that. Had he really helped her that much by sitting with her? He hadn't realised she felt that way.

 

I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new bond. Now, with the blessing of the Empress Arcana, Thou shalt obtain the power to change the fates around you.

Empress: 1

“You guys ready?” Teddy called over as everything went back to normal. He had apparently calmed down over Loki jumping on his head as they fled the dungeon. 

“Yeah.” Billy said, as he handed Cassie his number, so that they could explain later.

“Hold it!” Loki called out. “Before you go… I have decided to accompany you back to your world. It's too hard to eat and rest here.”

“Ok.” Billy said. 

“So… will one of you take me home and feed me?”

“Apartments too small.” Teddy responded instantly.

“My...my mom’s allergic and my step dad shot my last pet “accidentally””. Cassie put extra emphasis on the word accidentally. Billy figured he would have to ask her about that earlier.

“Well… My mom’s a little strict… But i might be able to swing it… If you can behave.” Billy was nervous, but he figured he could convince his mother. He knew a few tricks to getting what he wanted from her, and his father would probably agree.

“Of course. I win people over all the time. This'll be easy.”

******

“Is this a cry for attention?” 

Billy’s mom wasn't easily convinced of anything. But Billy had practiced his arguments for having a pet for years, but had never been brave enough to try them out, so he had thought he would be ready for this.

“Honey, it's just a cat. Unless its for a cult sacrifice I doubt it's a cry for attention… Is it-”

“No.” Billy laughed. His dad was always more relaxed. “Plus, mom, didn't you write a bunch of thesis papers about the positive effects of pets on the mental well being of children?”

“And I also listed of the cons that` come with taking in a pet....” Seeing the look on her husband's face she said, “Well, if Billy can train him to stay off the living room furniture, and he can get the cat to be quiet, and train him to be well behaved for guests, and it only poops in a litter box, and the litter box doesn't make any room smell;, and…” His mother continued to rattle off rules and demands. When she finished Billy agreed. Before he and Loki could flee to his room she added, “So what are you going to call him?”

“Loki.” Billy said, then realised his mistake.

“That's not a very normal name.” His mom said, disappointed. “Do you want to be the family with the cat with the weird name.”

“Honey… Don't you think that's not a big deal? People won’t judge us based on our cats name.”

His mother sighed. Billy knew she would probably try and train Loki to respond to another name behind his back, then pretend it was an accident after she gave him a nickname, but Billy was just happy that Loki could stay.

“Your moms… odd.” Loki said when they entered his room. “Meh. I suppose this room is decent lodging for a deity. Not my first choice, but im sure its leaps and bounds better than the pile of sweaty gym clothes muscles most likely sleeps on.”

Billy could feel Loki’s gratitude for taking him in, even if Loki didn't want to say it out loud. Loki was a complicated guy-cat-god? But still, it was nice to know he appreciated Billy taking him in.

Devil: 2

Billy blinked. He hadn't expected that. Apparently strengthening one of his bonds just resulted in a quick flash, and didn’t require Wanda to narrate. Regaining his composure he resumed wandering over to his bed.

“You really don’t like him, do you?” Billy asked as he crawled into bed and collapsed.

“Of course not… Well, I don’t hate him… but I don’t like him either, especially not the way you do.”

“What do you mean?” Billy asked confused.

“You don't know?” Loki said amused. “Well, I figured muscles didn’t but…. Huh. Forget I said anything.”

“I would if you told me what you meant.” Billy whined.

Loki laughed. “I really do appreciate humans. It's so amusing to watch your emotions and to try to understand how you think. I only ever got to see it from the perspective of that other world, so it's amazing to see this play out. Being a deity is so boring, no one's emotions are ever this deep or interesting.”

Billy didn't know why, but he felt like Loki just revealed a lot about himself. He could also feel Loki’s gratitude at taking him in, even if the cat didn't want to show it… Wait, if deities don’t have emotions, but Loki does… what is he?

“Anyway,” Loki said jumping on the blanket over Billy’s chest and curling up, “We got a lot accomplished today. You discovered the Wild Card ability, we got a new teammate, and we even took out a warden.”

“A what?”

“Oh, right. Wardens are the enforcers of a dungeon. They're the shadows of people in the real world who are seen as rulers of that domain, or people whose actions maintain the environment of that place. Those two boys must be seen as masters of your school.”

“They're the president and vice president of the student council.”

“Well, one is and one was.” Loki smiled, then noticed that Billy had tensed up. “Because you've defeated his shadow, the effects of that action will ripple through the dungeon and seep into the real world. Everyone is going to see him as unfit to hold that position, including the dungeon master. He won't die, but he won't hold that position either.”

“Oh...Dungeon master?”

“Whoever is seen as the absolute ruler of that place is the dungeon master. I'm assuming it'll be the principal, but I suppose it could potentially be anyone. If we want to destroy the dungeon, we need to defeat his shadow. To do that, we'll need to force his shadow to see us as threats so he'll attack us.

“And to do that we defeat his wardens?”

“That's a start. Theres other ways we can do that, but let's focus on the warden's for now. The easiest way to defeat them would probably be a direct attack on them in the parallel world… but that's assuming they'll all be as easy as the past few fights. We can also cause trouble in the real world too. Making people question their authority will weaken the wardens shadow. “

Billy wondered how he could get others to question Nate’s authority. He had thought Nate and Eli were just jokes when he met them, but clearly other people must see them differently. He would have to figure what everyone thought of Nate before he could change their opinions of him.

“Try to be discreet about it. You can change people's opinions without drawing attention to yourself as well. They will already suspect you because their shadows dislike you, but they don’t have any reason to attack you in the real world. Try not to give them one.”

“Got it.”

“And you should stay out of that other world for a few days. Dungeons have a very negative atmosphere, and spending too much time it in is bad for your physical body. Taking a break every now and then is important. Otherwise you'll burn out and die in there.”

“But, we were only there for a short while, maybe a couple hours?”

“Yes, but it was your first time in a dungeon. Your body needs a little time to adjust, maybe build up a small resistance to it. It's fine to head to the other world, but avoid the dungeon for now. Spend time with your friends and learn about the school. Focus on your school work too, so your mom doesn't try to lock you up in your room to study until your eighteen. “

“That's… yeah. I suppose spending a few days as a normal high school student wouldn't hurt… Id better text Teddy and Cassie what you've told me.”

He started a group chat and told Teddy and Cassie what he'd learned. Teddy understood most of it, and Cassie helped explain what he did not.

Billy: So how did you get in the dungeon in the first place?  
Cassie: You acted wired in the library, so I followed you and saw you talk to a cat, then disappear.  
Billy: You were in the library? Did you spy on me?  
Cassie: I said high to you. You did not respond.  
Cassie: Did you really not notice me  
Billy: …  
Billy: I was reading a good book…  
Cassie: Oh my god.  
Cassie: My first friend in a year is a nerd.  
Teddy: Least he's a cute nerd  
Billy: You're kind of cute yourself.  
Cassie: …  
Cassie: …  
Cassie: …  
Cassie: Are you two…  
Teddy: Waht  
Teddy: *Wath  
Teddy: *What. Hard to type and eat.  
Billy: Wait, Loki said something like this earlier. What do you want to know?  
Cassie: …  
Cassie: Goodnight.  
Teddy: Wait com to my game on saturday plz  
Cassie: Huh?  
Teddy: First game is on saturday   
Cassie: So?  
Teddy: Support me   
Teddy: School spirit  
Teddy: gather info on how the school works  
Teddy: Might help with the dungeon  
Billy: He has a point… but I have therapy on saturday at 10 A.M. When is the game?  
Teddy: 4pm  
Teddy: therapy for wut ar you ok  
Billy: Eli and Nate were at my house yesterday. They told mom about the panic attack and so she’s making me go again.  
Teddy: Creepy Basturds let me no next time and ill scare em off  
Cassie: Is your therapist Jean Grey? My mom sent me to her after the divorce. Shes pretty good.  
Billy: Yeah, I think that's her name. Hopefully it goes ok.   
Teddy: If u evr need 2 talk to som1 im here  
Cassie: Same.  
Billy: Really?  
Cassie: We’re friends, remember? Also, we’re teammates.  
Billy: We are?  
Teddy: Yep I think we all want to destroy the dungone  
Cassie: Yeah. Like any of us are going to walk away from this.  
Cassie: I have to make it so no one else in that school has to suffer like I did.  
Teddy: I didn't realise how bad things were… I was oblivious to every1 else suffering  
Teddy: I have to fix this   
Teddy: Plus I ahve to keep you safe

Teammate? Billy felt nice reading that. He was happy to have friends, people who wanted to help him. He had been afraid of being alone, but with Teddy, and Cassie, maybe he would be ok. And even Loki agreed they were teammates when he read the message from his spot on Billy's chest. Billy could get used to having friends.

I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new bond. Now, with the blessing of the Fool Arcana, Thou shalt obtain the power to change the fates around you.

Fool: 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter I wrote before getting my account on here. I saw other people do texting in story and I thought it would be fun. Also I could make Teddy type like I do in group chats (very quickly and poorly) so that was fun.


	5. A new Bond is formed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy makes a new bond.

Billy enjoyed his morning ride to school with Teddy. He barely even noticed how crowded it was, he was too busy talking to Teddy. It felt nice, having a friend to distract him from his fears.

“And that's called a touchdown.” Teddy finished explaining the basic rules of football. Billy had tried to discreetly ask him how the game worked, but Teddy could tell Billy had no idea how to play the sport. Normally Billy thought sports were boring, but when Teddy talked it seemed interesting.

“Got it. I'm all set to go cheer you on Saturday.”

“Good. We need all the support we can get. I know it's not really your thing, but I appreciate you coming.”

“Of course. What are friends for?”

“Yeah… So, um… where you going to hang out in the library again? Did you want to ride home together again? Maybe share notes from anything we find for the…” Teddy lowered his voice to a whisper, “mission?”

“Sure.” It meant staying a couple extra hours, but Billy didn't mind. He had barely explored the library, and it meant he got to ride home with Teddy, which was always fun. 

****

“So what’s Loki doing?” Cassie asked during lunch.

“He said he was going to do recon in the other world. Apparently he can cross between whenever he wants, so he's going to try and see if he can find anything useful there.”

“Speaking of, I haven't found anything useful yet.”

“Me neither, but I figure if I just wait and listen something will come along. “

“I guess you're right… So, are you actually going to Teddy’s game?”

“Of course. You'll come too, right? He said the team needs all the support they can get.”

“Why, did one of the players knock up a cheerleader again?”

“I… don’t think so.” Billy wasn't sure. He hoped Teddy hadn't gotten anyone pregnant. That lead him to wondering if Teddy had ever had sex with a woman before, an idea he didn't like but couldn't understand why. “Is Teddy dating anyone?”

Cassie gave him a look. It was some sort of smirk, like she knew something she wasn't saying. Billy wanted to ask, but felt that it would be like before, some secret that everyone but he and Teddy seemed to know.

“No, I don't think so. I don't know for certain, but even from my tiny island I can still hear rumours. The football players are pretty open about their relationships, and they like to compare, so even if Teddy wouldn't, someone else on the team would announce it.”

“Compare what?” 

“...girlfriends, Billy. They Are prizes to most of those idiots. Id feel worse for them if the women they pick weren't doing the same thing. Honestly i'm surprised no one's tried to grab Teddy yet. He’s one of the team's best players, and he's not too bad on the eyes. There must be a lot of girls trying to nab him.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely a prize. Any girl would be lucky to have him.”

“Or guy.” Cassie smirked.

“Right. Whoever Teddy’s into would be lucky to have him.”

Cassie sighed and Billy got the feeling he missed something again. 

“Anyway… About that cat… thing.”

“What about Loki?” 

“Teddy texted me to warn me not to trust him. Said he thinks the cat is going to try to mind control you or something. Is… is that something he can do?” Cassie asked. 

“No… I don't think he can at least. If he could, he would have used it on Teddy already. They just don't get along. I don’t understand it. Teddy’s so nice and cool, but ever since Loki showed up he hated him.”

“But you like Loki, right?”

“Well, we only met a day ago, but I think we're friends.” Billy said, thinking back on the bond he had formed with Loki. That had to mean something, right? “Why?”

“No reason.” Cassie answered casually, but quickly. “So how did it start? Who drew first blood?”

“I think Teddy accused Loki of trapping us in that other place, and that's how it started? I just wish they'd get over it and get along. My first two friends and they both hate each other.” He hadn't meant to say that last part aloud.

He could tell Cassie caught what he had said, but she thankfully didn't try to ask any questions. She seemed to respect it and take it in stride. He was glad to have her as a friend. She understood what it was like to be alone. Billy had a sudden feeling that their bond would grow stronger soon, but he couldn't tell why.

Cassie didn't try to fight it when he turned the conversation back to the upcoming game. They continued talking until lunch ended and they separated..

******  
After promising to meet with teddy after practice was over, Billy made a beeline for the library. Well, actually it wasn't the library he was headed to. He was actually heading to the velvet room, hoping to get some more answers from Igor and Wanda. He made sure no one was looking when he entered the door to the velvet room. He didn't want someone to see him go in there like Cassie had seen him and Teddy yesterday.

“I must apologize,” Wanda said when he appeared in his usual seat, “But my master is currently out. He said he wasn't expecting you to come today, although I suspect that may have been a lie.”

“Why's that?” 

“Because I wished to form a bond with you, and that is most easily accomplished without my master being present… I believe.”

“I guess that makes sense? ” Billy felt a little uncomfortable with the idea of forming a bond with her.Maybe it was constantly hearing her voice in his head, or the fact that he didn't know who or what she was or…

“You seem worried. Please relax, I have studied human relationships extensively, and I am certain that we can initiate one.” Wanda gave him a big smile. It seemed forced, but Billy could tell she was trying to be friendly.

“Now then, let's form a bond!” Wanda stood there for a moment. Billy looked at her. Did...did she think he could start one at will?

“I see.” She said, pulling up a small notebook and making a few notes. “Method number two then. Billy, please fuse a Jack Frost for me.” She pulled out some more personal cards, the ones he had earned from his new bonds. Billy noted that he got another Devil card, making a mental note that he could obtain more cards for each rank.

“This is the method that my sisters used to bond with their human wards.” She said as Billy began trying to come up with a plan to fuse a Jack Frost. “Certainly, this will work. Your hard work will make our bond shine!”

She continued Talking as Billy worked. Since he was already at the max amount of Persons he could wield, the new ones he welcomed disappeared as he accepted them into his mind. He knew they weren't lost, and could be called back later if he wanted. He was more focused on his current task. 

“You did it!”

Billy nodded. He figured that Pyro Jack and Jack Frost had to be connected somehow, and from there it was only trial and error to find the right combination. Thankfully he got it on his first guess. Billy wasn't sure if it was luck, or if there was supernatural force guiding him. Wanda had mentioned that his bonds would guide the fusions, and since Jack Frost was a Magician aracan, maybe his bond with Teddy guided him?

“It didn't work?” Wanda said, disappointed. “But, this was my second method, my best method. All that's left is doing what Elizabeth did and making you take me on dates to the human world…. That's it! Take me to someplace in the human world!”

“Will that work?” Billy was curious to know more about her, but he didn't want to make Teddy wait for him. He was also worried it might be hard to keep a low profile if he was seen around school with her. 

“It worked for Elizabeth so it will work for me!” Wanda said enthusiastically.

“But you're not Elizabeth.”

Wanda looked at him for a minute. Based on the look on her face, what he said had an impact on her. Billy felt a little guilty. He didn't know who Elizabeth was, and he might have said something he shouldn't have.

“So we need our own method of bonding? But I don't know what that would be.”

“Well, I don't know if we can find it if were trying to find it, you know?”

“I do not.” She pouted.

“Im… look, I'm not great with relationships, but I watch a lot of shows where people are, and my mom says you can't force a real relationship. If we try to find a way to create a bond, we won't because we're not letting it happen, we're trying to force it. Like me and Teddy didn't try to create one, we just did because of everything we went through.”

“But these bonds are important, they are the source of your power. I wish to contribute to that power, to assist in its growth. Yet… I do not understand that power. I am supposed to guide you as you build these bonds, yet I do not understand how they work myself. I guess I'll trust your wisdom when you say we have to let it happen naturally. I just wish I could understand how human bonds work.”

Billy could understand her plight. He still had a lot of trouble understanding other people, and he wanted to know more about how relationships worked too. Her desire reminded him of the bond he and Loki had, which was based partially around Loki’s interest in humans. But with Loki it felt more like he was trying to understand what Loki was so interested in, but with her, it was more like they shared the same issue, they wanted to know the same things. 

I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new bond. Now, with the blessing of the Aeon Arcana, Thou shalt obtain the power to change the fates around you.

Aeon: 1

“That's… We succeeded?!” Wanda seems stunned. “What did we do differently?”

“I… I guess I understood you a little better somehow?” Billy thought for a moment. “Neither of us tried to force it… and I think what you just said to me, about wanting to help and understand human bonds… I… I guess I could relate to that.”

“Is that important?” 

“I think so. It might not be the only thing, but it's a good place to start. Do you want to talk some more?”

“No.” Wanda said quickly. “I need time to plan the next step of our bond using this new information. And how to do so without forcing it… I'll need to do some research on human emotions before we continue. Do not worry, our bond will soon become one of your strongest.”

“R-right.” Billy wasn't sure she really understood, but he figured he should leave her to her plans for now. 

****  
“I found nothing,” Billy sighed. “I got sidetracked.” He hoped Teddy wouldn’t be upset. They had wanted to share notes on the ride home, but Billy had spent too much time with Wanda. 

“That's alright,” Teddy said. “We can try to get information tomorrow anyway. I didn’t get much either, but we were mostly focused on the game anyway. You guys are coming right? All the other guys are hoping we can’t as many people as we can, some of them even asked their girlfriends to get their friends from that fancy private school to come. We need all the support we can get to win.”

Billy remembered what Cassie had said earlier.

“So um… is yours?”

“Is my what?”

“Uh… girlfriend… or whoever… going to the game?”

“...”

“I… I didn’t mean to be rude… I-”

Teddy laughed.

“No, im single, always have been. You?”

Billy blushed. He was nervous, but felt a little more relaxed knowing Teddy was single, although he didn’t know why. 

“No.. I- Im still single too. I've been single my whole life too. I mean I got married in kindergarten once.” 

 

“So you're not dating Cassie then?”

“I barely know her!”

“Oh right… I mean most of my teammates knew their girlfriends for less time.” 

“Well… I don’t work that fast. Besides we're just friends.”

“Ah. I guess that makes sense.”

****  
Billy was a little relieved when he and Teddy separated. He didn’t like talking about Cassie that way. Maybe it was just that he hadn't thought about it with anyone before… but he knew he didn’t have any feelings like that for her… did he?

“Oh Billy! You're home.”

Billy hadn’t realized he'd made it home yet. His mom greeted him excitedly, but something felt off. She was using her “happy news smile”. It wasn’t her “good news smile”, just her “happy news smile”.

“I hope you're excited for your therapy session tomorrow. Dr. Grey is well renowned. I've read a few of her books. They don’t compare to mine, but she’s as close as were going to get.”

Oh, right.

“Yeah,” Billy lied. “I'm excited. Hopefully this can help.”

“I really think it will. Why don’t you help me set the table for dinner before your dad gets home.”

****  
“Your mom keeps trying to change my name,” Loki complained. “She keeps calling me Luke. Make her stop. Luke isn’t the name of a god.” 

“I'll… try.” Of course Billy don't really plan to try and stop her, his mom would keep doing it until she decided it wouldn’t work, which was unlikely. “So were you here all day?

“Yeah. I was going to do some research of my own, but your mom wouldn’t let me out of her sight. I wanted to do some more recon, but i'll suppose it'll have to wait.Did you find anything out?”

“No, I didn’t get anything. Either.”

Loki sighed before walking over to Billys bed.

“That's alright. Resting a bit is probably good for now, you did go into that place two days in a row. I assume muscles and Cassie didn’t get anything either?”

Billy made a mental note that Loki remembered Cassie's’ name, despite only referring to Teddy as muscles. 

“Teddy didn’t, but he's too focused on the game right now. I guess I can’t blame him.” 

“I suppose he’s trying to hold onto something from his normal life.” Loki said, putting extra emphasis on normal.

“What do you mean?”

“Personas, shadow, other words… you can’t tell me this is normal for you. As far as I know, most humans don’t handle sudden changes like this well. Honestly I'm amazed the three of you are holding up as well as you are.”

Billy wondered if that was true. Was Teddy trying to use the football game to have a “normal” life again? And wasn’t it all Billy’s fault that his life wasn’t normal anymore? All Teddy did was try to help him, but Billy got him dragged into another world. Billy knew this wasn’t easy to deal with for himself, but for Teddy…for Teddy whose friends were being tortured in the school dungeon, Teddy who could have walked past him and not gotten dragged into this…

“Anyway, you should go to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow.”

Billy nodded. He turned off the light and prepared to go to bed, but he knew he would be up all night worrying about if Teddy was ok or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not a whole lot really happened in this chapter. Next chapter is more exciting.


	6. Play ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy meets his therapist and goes to a football game.

Cassie:Did you find it ok?  
Billy: Yeah, I just got found it. You said she’s nice?  
Cassie: Yeah. She’s a good listener. It feels like she listens to listen, not to solve problems. You can trust her not to tell everything she hears to your parents as well.  
Billy: That won’t stop my mom.  
Cassie:fair.  
Billy: Plus I can’t tell her about the shadows and personas.  
Cassie: Yeah that's probably what's freaking me out the most right now.

Billy thought about his conversation with Loki last night. He had been worried about Teddy, but Cassie also had to deal with this. How was she dealing with all this? If she couldn't talk about this to her therapist who could she talk to.

Billy: You handling it ok?  
Cassie: I guess? At least for now. But I've got you guys to talk to about if I need to right?  
Cassie: And you have us too.

Billy felt relieved to hear- read that. He made a note to try to talk to her in person alter. But, hopefully she was dealing with it ok.

Billy: Thanks. I think I have to go in. See you at the game?

Billy didn't have time to check her response before running off. He had been nervously waiting outside his therapists office. He texted Cassie and Teddy, but Teddy hadn’t responded. Billy figured he was either a sleep of getting ready for his game. Billy wasn’t how early Teddy had to be up for his game, and Teddy had mentioned sleeping in past noon once or twice.

“Hello Billy.” 

Billy took stock of his new therapist. She seemed young, defiantly younger than any of his previous therapists. She had red hair, and she smiled at him. She was sitting at her desk, and gestured towards the seat across from her.

“Hi.” He said as he sat down.

“Did you have trouble getting here?”

“No,” Billy said. He was uncomfortable making small talk. It just made him more fearful for the next part, where she began analyzing him and picking him apart. He wondered how long it would be before she started reporting to his mother, before she started changing each session to match whatever his mom told her to. IT always happened.

“Ok.” She said simply. “That's good. First, I think I should talk about your mother.”

B9lly blinked. 

“What about her?”

“I read through your files from the other therapists, and also the… personal ones your mom sent. And I also skimmed through the copies of her books that she sent over.”

Billy wasn't surprised. His mom didn’t hide that she had her own record on Billy’s psyche locked away. She gave them to every therapist he went to. At first the therapists would look through them to humour her, but eventually they all fell in line with her. The books were normal for her too. She didn’t trust other therapists much, and she wanted to make sure they had studied her research and methods before they got to see Billy.

“Now, I get the feeling she has taken control over some of your past sessions.” Dr. Grey said. “After talking on the phone with a couple of your past therapists I came to the conclusion that your mom is going to start calling and asking for my notes. Legally, I can’t give them to her, but she will still try to get them.”

Billy sighed. He knew that would happen, but he was a little happy to have a therapist be upfront about it for once. It was was always obvious, especially when they started parroting the things his mom said word for word, but none of his previous therapists ever admitted it. Heck, some of them spoke more to his mom than him, and spent entire sessions telling him what he should have done instead of asking for his actual thoughts.

“That's not going to happen.” She said.

“What?”

“She’s not getting my notes,” Dr. Grey said. “I don't think it is beneficial to you in anyway. In fact I think your mom could be a major topic for us to dig into one day. But for now, I think you probably don’t trust me because of years of bad therapy, so why don’t we talk about things you aren't afraid of me telling your mother until you're ready to talk about your issues?”

 

“Really?” Billy asked. 

“Yes, really. I can wait. Therapy is a long process, and I don’t want you to hold back because you're worried what your mom will find out. That could set us further back.” Dr. Grey said, as her phone rang. 

“Sorry, I forgot to turn that off… Oh, it's your mom. She wants to know if you made it her alive because my office is in a sketch part of town and you haven't responded to her texts.”

Billy quickly pulled out his phone. He noticed several missed messages, and calls. He had put his phone on silent while texting Cassie, since they were both responding right away and he didn’t want it to go off during the lesson. 

“I'll text her that i'm ok.”

“And I will respond to the next text she sent asking how the session is going by saying I can’t tell her anything.” Dr. Grey said, typing on her phone. “This is what I mean. You need to be able to have privacy in these sessions.”

Billy nodded. He felt a little relieved. It was nice having a therapist who didn’t seem like she was going to go behind his back to his mom. He still didn’t know if he could trust her, but he liked the way things were going so far. 

They preceded to to make small talk for the rest of the session. He talked about adjusting to the new school, how much he liked the library, about making a few friends. He left out anything important, but he felt a little better when he left.

++++++  
Billy was a bit nervous at the game. He had never been to a football game before, and he didn’t know very many people at his school yet. Cassie ahdn;t answered his text, so he didn;t know if she was coming. Billy wasn’t sure if he'd be able to handle such a large group of people himself.

He began losing confidence when he arrived. He knew these games were popular, but he hadn't expected this many people to come. It wasn’t just students either, he could see parents there as well. He wasn’t sure he could handle this.

“There you are.”

Billy turned to see Cassie coming over to him. He noticed she was wearing a jersey with the opposing team name on it.

“Umm-”

“If I have to be here, im wearing the other team’s jersey.” Cassie said simply. “I mean Teddys ok, but the rest of them have been asses to me for a while. Plus, this way no one will sit by us, and you want that, right?”

Billy couldn’t argue with her logic, but he was worried Teddy Might be hurt to see Cassie support the other team. Billy let Cassie grab his hand and guide him the football field and lead him to a spot on the bleachers. It was by a corner with only a few people, but most of them scattered away when Billy and Cassie sat down.  
“See, the shirt works. Also, everyone here is scared of being around the girl with the criminal father, but lets pretend its the shirt.” 

“So… did you go out of your way to get that shirt?”

Cassie shrugged. Billy wondered how far she would have gone for the bit. They made small talk, talked a little bit about Billy’s session. They kept talking until Billy noticed someone else walk over to sit by them. She didn't seem to be a student at their school. She was dressed a bit...fancier than Billy thought people would be for a football game.

“H-Hi.” Billy said awkwardly.

“Hi.” 

“You know, most people try to avoid sitting by us.” Cassie said. 

“I noticed.” She said. “I didnt want to talk to people so I came and sat here.”

“Why come to the game then? If you want to avoid people?” Cassie asked.

“I mean… I also came and want to avoid people.” Billy pointed out. “And so did you.”

Cassie shrugged.

“I like football. I just don't like people who-” The mystery girl was interrupted by the announcer. 

Billy and Cassie cheered when Teddy got his name called to join the starting line up. After that the mostly watched quietly. Neither of them really knew much about football, and although they tried to cheer for Teddy, neither could keep up with him in the field. The mystery girl seemed interested in the game, but didn't cheer much.

It was about half time that someone else joined them.

“Is this seat taken?” Elijah said. 

Cassie and Billy stared at him. Neither spoke at first. Billy knew he didn’t know about the shadow world, or trying to kill Cassie, but he was pretty sure Elijah wasn't exactly friends with either of them.

“I… I guess that's fair.” Elijah said, nervously. “I know this sounds weird, but lately I've been feeling… bad. I did some personal reflection and realized I did some bad things.”

“No shit.”

“Cassie!” 

“No, I deserve it. I really made some mistakes. So I want to apologize. To both of you. I feel like I need to make things ok with everyone I wronged, and I can’t do that coming clean for everything I did, so if you don’t mind I'd like to read off the lists i've prepared. Do you want to go first Billy? Yours is much shorter.”

“Look, I appreciate this, but this isn’t a good place for it. I can barely hear you over the crowd anyway.” Cassie said. “You can read me the list later. Then you can suffer.”

Elijah nodded and then walked away.

“You know he wasn’t fully responsible for everything he did, right?” Billy whispered.

“Yeah, I know, but he was still an asshole. Even if the dungeon made him do it, or messed with his head when he became a warden, he still was an asshole. I won't torture him too much, but I'm not ready to forgive and forget yet.”

Before Billy could respond they heard Loki voice.

“We need to get to the other world, now.”

Billy and Cassie turned to see Loki. sitting behind them. 

“Loki? Why are you here?” Billy asked.

“Because I need you to move!” Loki snapped. “Something is happening in the dungeon.”

“Are you talking to the cat?” The mystery girl asked.

“Yep. His cat followed him here so he has to take him home.” Cassie said quickly, grabbing Billy’s arm and picking up Loki in one arm.

“Never pick me up again!” Loki snapped in when they reached the parking lot. Thankfully, everyone was at the field and they had room to talk.

“Sorry, I was in a rush. So what's going on?”

“Something is happening in the dungeon. I'm not sure what, but we need to investigate it now.”

“Shouldn't we wait for Teddy?” Billy asked. 

“This is just a recon mission, so we shouldn’t need him. I was monitoring the dungeon when I felt something change. I wasn't going to go in without backup, but I just want to see what happened.”

“So just in and out, right? No need to do any fighting?” Cassie asked.

“If you guys are quiet we should be fine.”

“Let's do it.” Cassie said, looking at Billy. He wasn't sure he wanted to go without the full team, but he nodded and moved with them. 

++++

“Everything seems normal.” Billy said as they crept along the dungeon school. “It's just as creepy as before.”

 

“Yeah... not that I remember much since this is my first mission here… but yeah, what changed here?” Cassie asked as they passed more deserted hallways and classrooms.

“I don't know, but something did…” Loki said. “Shadows are coming. Get ready.”

Billy and Cassie dealt with the shadows pretty easily. Cassie seemed to have something on her mind.

“Is it ok to fight these shadows? Didn’t you say that would damage the person in the real world their connected to?”

“Not those shadows. These shadows are different. I'll explain when where in danger, but these ones are ok.” Loki said, a little annoyed.

 

They kept walking. Billy and Cassie finished off whatever shadows they encountered. Billy figured they would run into enemies on this recon mission, and had been worried that he nad Cassie wouldn’t be enough. Plus, he just liked having Teddy around. 

“Here it is.” Loki said as he stopped in front of what looked like the library door. Billy felt a little unnerved seeing the usual library door covered in blood, with posters that said things like ‘death to the disgracers’ instead of the usual cheesy pro-reading posters. 

“Is it a warden?”Billy asked.

“Maybe… I can’t quite tell… but its defiantly dangerous.”

“So let's leave and come back with Teddy.” Billy said.

“No… this change is new, and possible still fragile. IF we move now we might be able to do a lot of damage to the dungeon.” Loki said.

“Good idea. Lets not wait for this to be a problem, let's fix it now. Plus, Teddy will be too tired after his game to fight, so it might be at least a day before we can come back. We have to be proactive.” Cassie said.

“I think we should wait.” Billy said.

“You can wait outside then.” Loki said smugly, as Cassie opened the door and he walked through. Billy sighed and followed, knowing they were better as a team then split up. Billy could tell from Loki’s chuckle that he knew Billy would follow. 

The library was dark. Billy summoned Pyro JAck, and tried using his lantern to light the area. It wasn't much but at least he could see. It looked the normal library had been hit with an earthquake, with books and bookshelves laying everywhere on the ground. Billy felt like he was in a horror movie.

“Why do villains always fall for this trap?” Came a familiar voice. “This already worked once.”

“We kicked your ass last time Nate, we can do it again.” Cassie said, as she looked for the source of the voice.

“No, i don't think so. I would rather not dirty my hands. But after you killed my partner, I got a new one.”

The lights turned on, and Billy saw Nathaniel and a new kid standing beside him. He was wearing a football jersey, but Billy was sure he didn't recognize him. 

“That's right. I'm the new guy in charge here.” Said the new shadow.

“Who are you?” Billy asked.

“What?! I'm the king around here! Everyone knows me. Right?!” He gestured toward Cassie.

“Some asshole in a football jersey? There's more than one at this school.”

 

“Greg Norris. I'm the quarterback.” He huffed. “Anyway i'm going to kill you.”

Cassie summoned Stature and sent her to attack the two shadows, but the vanished before Stature could hit them.

“Later though.” Greg’s disembodied shadow voice spoke. “I'll let my friends deal with you for now.”

Billy and Cassie brace themselves as several large shadows appeared, quickly surrounding them. Billy ahdnlt seen this type of shadow before, and he wasn't sure what their weakness was.

“Shit.” Cassie said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to end the chapter here since its been a while since I updated.


	7. Stuff Happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Cassie's recon mission does not go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey im back. I had a lot of ideas come and go, and here's what I did when I finally had the energy to write it out. Hope you like it.

“Wiccan!”

“Stature!”

Neither of them wasted time fighting back. Wiccan charged the nearest enemy with his staff, while Stature began throwing fireballs at the shadows. 

“There's too many shadows for my to analyze them all…” Loki muttered. 

“Turn around and put your back against mine,” Cassie commanded. “Loki try to hide under our feet. It'll make it easier for us to monitor the battle and keep you safe.”

Billy and Loki complied. He had felt a little safer with Cassie’s back against his. He supposed it was just nice to have someone watching his back, literally. It made it easier to command his persona knowing he didn’t have to worry about the battle behind him.

The feeling didn’t last long, however. Fireballs, shards of ice, and wind magic where all being thrown at Wiccan. He flew around the room, desperately trying to evade the onslaught. He threw lightning bolts out every opening he had, but few of his attacks were connecting with enemies, and he wasn’t able to avoid every enemy hit.

Billy winced as a fireball hit Wiccans left shoulder. The force of the attack hurt, and the heat burned his arm for a moment. That momentary distraction caused Wiccan to stop moving just long enough for several more enemies to hit him.

Billy almost fell to the ground, but Cassie pushed her back against his, keeping him standing up. He raised his hand and mentally changed Wiccan into Pixie, attempting to heal himself. But before Pixie could cast a spell, she was shot down by more attacks. 

That won’t work. 

Billy hadn't expected to hear Wanda’s voice during battle. 

Your new persona, Jack Frost. Summon him. His magic can strike multiple enemies at once. It may turn the tide of battle.

“Jack Frost!”

As Pixie faded away, her body was replaced by the small… snowman goblin instead. Jack Frost bounced in the air happily, with a slightly creepy smile, as it nodded to Billy. 

“Mabufu!”

Jack Frost bounced in the air before sending multiple ice shards flying in every direction. Billy felt relieved as he saw a several of the shadow disappear when the shards struck them. Some other shadows seemed wounded by it, but many others dodged, or the attack hit but didn’t seem to impact them.

“Nice one!” Cassie said, excitedly. “Let me try! Maragi!” 

Stature raised her hands above her head, creating a ball of fire. Sudden;y the ball exploded, sending fireballs in every direction causing more of the of the shadows disappeared.  
With only a few shadows remaining, Billy and Cassie easily picked them off. 

“Thank god,” Billy said as he felt Pixies healing magic fix him up, before having her heal Cassie.

“How come you didn’t open with that attack?” Cassie asked.

“Didn’t know I could. Probably wouldn’t have figured it out if I hadn’t he- felt my new persona,” Billy siad, attempting to cover up his mistake. He still didn't like hiding the velvet room from his friends, but there had to be a reason his personas didn’t want him to tell them. Cassie didn’t say anything, but Billy felt like she had caught his little slip up. “Looks like you can do it too.’

“Yeah, when I saw you do it, I just figured I could and I did. I wonder if I could get your wild card powers that way too.” Cassie’s tone was clearly joking, but Billy wondered if she could.

No. She already had this ability, but she didn’t know about its existence until now. She and your other friends will develop new powers as you fight, but she shouldn't be able to develop a wild card ability by thinking about it… I think. I'll look into.

Billy mentally thanked her for her answer before turning his focus back to Cassie.

“Maybe we should call off the mission for now? I think we should come back with a full team. Plus, we did promise to watch Teddy play.”

Cassie sighed.

“Yeah. I thought this would be more fun, but this is too dangerous without a full team. Besides, This was just supposed to be a recon mission, but they must know that we’re here already.”

“But we haven’t found the change yet!” Loki said, clearly upset. “If something has changed here, then we should find out what and take advantage of it if we can, or prepare for it if we have to. The less we know the more danger we’re in!”

“Sorry, it's two against one right now,” Cassie said. “There’s no reason for us to stay here right now.”

“Attention intruders!” Came a familiar voice from the parallel schools PA system.

“Not this again,” Billy mumbled.

“I’ve acquired yet another delinquent to punish,” Came the twisted voice of Nate’s shadow. “And this time, you won’t be able to defeat us! Come join us in the Cafeteria again. This time Justice will Prevail!”

“Us?” Billy asked, looking at the others. If Eli was defeated, then Nate should be on his own right now. The others shook their heads in confusion.

“You won’t get away with this!” That one was Eli’s voice before the intercom cut out.

“That bastard was faking it?!” Cassie shouted. “I knew it! Come on, lets go kick his ass again!”

Billy nodded. Whoever they had kidnapped was in danger.

“Wait you idiots!” Loki snapped. “We don’t know that anyone is actually kidnapped this time. LAst time you followed us in, but we didn’t hear anyone else with them. How do we know they aren’t just pretending because they know we will run in. Can’t we at least fetch muscles first? We should at least grab our meat shield for this.”

 

Billy sighed, slightly annoyed at how quickly everyone’s positions had changed. 

“Think of it this way, maybe we can find out what changed in here while we do it. Besides, if we leave they might just execute the victim.”

“If there is a victim.” Loki said as he and Cassie turned to Billy.

“Your call, team leader.” She said.

“We weren’t sure about going after you either, but I knew I had to try to save you. If we hadn’t you might have died and,” Billy runed to Loki, “We would have lost out on a powerful ally. I say we we go now. It's risky, but we can’t ignore this.”

Loki said, but nodded. He might not like it, but he didn't have any other choice but to follow them into battle.

It didn’t take long to reach the cafeteria. After a moment of hesitation, Billy and Cassie opened the doors and entered. It was surprisingly empty.

“Can you sense them?” Billy asked Loki.

“Yes… There's one powerful shadow here… Above you!”

Cassie grabbed Billy by his shirt and pulled him back just in time for him to avoid being impaled. An armored knight had dropped down from the ceiling. Billy couldn't see its face, but he could tell its gaze was focused on him. 

“Agi!”

Before Billy or the knight could act, Cassie had already begun attacking. Despite his slow speed however, the knight didn’t seem phased. Billy quickly joined in, attacking with Jack Frost's ice, however that didn’t work either. 

“Any weaknesses?”

“Yes… its weak against…nuclear magic? Can either of you use that?”

None of your current personas possess that magic type.

“No, none of my can.” Billy said as he switched to Wiccan. 

“Me neither.”

“Oh oh… Its null to everything but physical and nuclear magic… but it's also strong against physical damage.”

“Meaning?” Cassie asked as Stature flew out of the path of the knights slow moving sword attacks. 

“It can only be hurt by nuclear magic and physical attacks… but physical attacks don’t hurt it very much. At least its attacks are slow… but don’t let it hit you, because it also has a high physical attack stat!”

“How is that fair!” Cassie snapped. She ordered Stature to try punching the knight, and while the knight did recoil at her punches, it didn’t seem to affect it to much. 

“Justice isn’t fair, but it always succeeds.” Came Nate's voice from behind them.

Cassie immediately turned around and Stature, who had been repeatedly punching the knight and dog in its counterattacks, to charge at Nate. Before she could get close enough to it, a second knight fell from the ceiling. She managed to pull back in time, but the attack still left a deep slash on her arm.

The two knights circled around Billy and Cassie, who pushed their backs together again. Billy switched to Pixie and quickly healed Cassie’s arm, but not before noticing that a small amount of blood seems to be running down it. 

“Go ahead, heal ourselves up. It'll just make it more fun to watch my knights finish you off.” Nate smirked. “It's too bad Theodore can’t join us, but I suppose he has a game to win. Funny, fulfilling his duty to this school is going to save his life. If only you two had done your duties as well. “

“Bastard!” Cassie shouted. “Stop hiding behind your stupid shadows and fight us yourself.” 

“Language! If you keep talking like that, people are going to think your a bad influence,” Nate chuckled. “ Besides, there's nothing wrong with letting those below me assist in protecting our lovely school!”

“Assists?! Your not doing anything to-” 

Cassie was cut off when one of the knights landed another hit on Stature. Billy tried to send Pixie to heal her, but for some reason he couldn't summon up the energy to do it.

You burned up too much of your magical energy. Your Persona can’t use anymore magic until you recover so more. 

“I can’t heal you,” he whispered to her. He was beginning to worry. Being unable to heal each other meant they had to be more careful. Now they were in real danger.

“I know,” she whispered quickly . “I don’t think I can use my fire magic right now either… but it wouldn't do us much good in this fight anyway. We just have to punch through them.” 

Cassie took a deep breath and began speaking to Nate again.

“If you keep hiding behind these guys you'll never beat us. Why don’t you fight us instead, one on one. At least that way something will happen.”

“I'd rather not do this all the same to you. No need to dirty my hands with your tainted blood.”

“You're just afraid. You saw us beat your friend and now you’re scared. And so is he, or he’d be standing with you, doing nothing to.”

“If you think my partner is afraid of you, you’re mistaken. Your win against Eli was a fluke, but now your time is up! Although, speaking of Eli...”

As if on schedule the cafeteria door swung open again. For a second Billy hoped Teddy would walk through and save them, but instead it was Eli who was thrown into the room by another student's shadow.

“God you talk a lot,” The new student said. Billy was sure he had met this one, but he didn’t remember him. “Anyone, I got bored of beating up our little traitor here, so I thought I'd join you instead.”

The new one walked over and casually put his foot on Eli’s back, smirking the entire time. He was muscular, but otherwise unremarkable. He was relatively plain looking otherwise, but Bily must have seen him somewhere.

“Ugh!” Nate snapped. “Greg, the plan was for you to take him somewhere else and do that. This is my victory. You’re just supposed to listen to my orders and enforce justice on-”

“Can you shut up with the justice bullshit? I don’t really care about anyone of that. I’m your little buddies replacement,” He said giving Eli a kick, “ and I just want to enjoy myself. The other me is about to win the game, so I think I should get to win over here too.”

Billy remembered where he was from. It was Teddy’s friend Greg, the football team captain. But why was his shadow here unless…

“That's the change. Someone else got promoted to warden to replace Eli!” Loki realized.

“Yeag, this loser had total control over everyone in this school, but then he lost to you guys. So now I get to take his place. And I don’t intend to lose.“

“That's surprising, since you never seem to win a game!” Cassie called out, hoping to get under his nerves.

“Like I give a damn what Creepy Cassie thinks! Like i'm going to let you ruin my fun tonight anyway. I finally got the power and respect I deserve, and when I win tonight's game, everyone is going to see my as a real champion. Then you can come beg for my forgiveness. Not that I'm giving you any, but it'll be fun to watch you try anyway.”

“Shut up.” Eli whispered.

“What...was...that? I...couldn’t...hear...you.” Nate said, kicking Eli with each word.

“I said shut up.” Eli said, trying to stand. His voice was strained, and it was just not that Billy realised how beaten up Eli looked. 

“What the hell is your problem?”

“You. You think because you are in a position of power that you can hold it over someone else? You disgust me.”

“Like you’re any better than I am? I remember what you did when you were in charge, you weren’t exactly a boy scout yourself!”

“I know. You disgust me because I was just as bad as you. But a few days ago I realized my mistake. I'm not going to be apart of a broken system anymore. And i'm not going to hide from what I've done either. Because I can’t make up for what I did if I hide it. And I can’t make up for what I did if this corruption continues, even If i'm not a part of it anymore. “

Somehow, Eli seems to be overpowering Greg’s shadow. He stood up, pushing Greg to the ground. He turned and faced his assailant. 

 

“Protect your captain dumbasses!” Greg shouted at the knights. They quickly abandoned their posts around Billy and Cassie to charge at Eli. Stature and Pixie moved to intercept them. 

“Don’t try to hide behind them. You haven't made the mistakes Nate and I made yet. You can still turn back now. I would give anything to undo those mistakes, you don’t have to. “

“Just shut up!” Greg said, scrambling to his feet. “I'm still stronger than you even without them!” 

Do you really want to undo your mistakes, came Eli’s voice from above. It was altered, the same way that their shadows had been before.

“Again!” Nate snapped.

“What the hell is this!” Greg snapped. “This stupid trick isn't going to scare me off!” He shouted, running toward Eli, but some invisible force knocked him back.

“No,” Eli responded. “I wish I had never abused my power. But I shouldn’t say I'd give anything to undo it. Because If I hadn't, someone else would have. Its self serving to say I wish I'd never done it. Instead I need to make sure no one ever does it again.”

Real justice can’t be achieved by by dwelling on our mistakes. We must acknowledge them to overcome them. And when we do we can find others making those same mistakes we stop them.  
“My mistakes were abandoning my morals for power, using justice as an excuse to push myself further as I harmed the students I was supposed to protect.

If you seek the power to protect the student you harmed, and punish those who falsely claim justice when they commit evil, the form a contract with me, and we shall let true justice resonate throughout these hallowed halls.

“Don’t you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk!” Greg shouted trying again to hit Eli, still unable to break through the invisible wall. 

“I am thou, thou art I, I shall call forth they name in the pursuit of justice and repentance, Patriot!”

Patriot appeared. He looked like Eli, but was wearing blue and white spandex suit. He had a red maks coverign his face, and was carrying a shield with red and white stripes beneath three white stars on one hand.

“How very American of you.” Greg sneered. “Doesn’t change anything.”

He charged again, this time the mysterious force was gone, and his punch landed directly against Eli’s chest. Eli didn’t budge, and instead responded by punching Greg back onto the ground.

“Don’t underestimate them.” Nate shouted, running over to help Greg up. “Lets retreat for now, those foolish delinquents don’t stand a chance against our guards, but there's no need to isk us getting hurt. We’re too important to this place anyway.”

“You’re right. Besides, i'm still new to this. And there's still some people who don’t understand my power yet. But by the end of tonight they will.” Greg snarled before eh and Nate ran away.

 

While Billy and cassie were distracted by their enemies escape, the two knights slipped past, moving toward Eli. Patriot moved between tem, blocking one of the knights swords with his shield, before bashing the knight in the chest with it.

“That won’t work,” Cassie called out. “You need to try something else.”

Eli nodded. “I'll try this then. Frei!”

A blue light burst out of patriot’s free hand, instantly defeating one of the shadows. He repeated the attack against the other enemy.

“Was… that nuclear magic?” Billy asked.

“Y-yeah. That was… convenient.” Loki said, clearly unsure how to feel about their sudden stroke of luck. “Oh, don;t worry, it's called nuclear, but it's not radioactive. That's just the name it has, so don't freak out about it.”

“Good to know.”

“Speaking of knowing,” Eli began, “What exactly just happened. Where are we and why does it look like a nightmare version of the school. And what is that?” He gestured toward Patriot.

“We’ll explain everything later, but right now we should get out of here.” Cassie said. 

“Can you make it with your wounds? “ Billy asked.

“You're injured?” Eli said, noticing her wounds. “I think I can help.”

“You can heal me?”

“No, but I saw a sign saying where we could get healed when I first came in here.”

Billy and Cassie exchanged a look. Neither of them had seen any signs, and neither of them was sure they wanted to follow Eli to an unknown location.

“You two aren’t able to fight back either way, if this was trap he probably wouldn't have bothered and would have let the shadows kill you.” Loki pointed out.

“If Loki, of all people, says to trust him, we might as well,” Billy said to Cassie. He turned to Eli, “Help me walk her to this place, her leg got cut pretty badly.”

 

Although Cassie was reluctant, she knew she don't have much of a choice. 

“How did you get here anyway,” Billy asked as the each put one of Casies arms over their shoulders and helped her toward the door.

“I went after you when you ran off. Not to spy!” He added quickly. “I was worried. Then I saw you use that turnstyle and disappear. I went in after you, but when I got here you were gone.”

“Let's start double checking before we come here, this is becoming a pattern,” Cassie said.

“What do you mean?”

“I ended up in this mess for the same reason.”

“I see.”

An awkward silence soon set in.

“Here we are.”

The group stood before a door with a small pink sign on it that said, “Trish Magic Fountain and Emporium. For all your heroin needs.” Eli opened the door and the three of them went in.

Inside, the atmosphere was much different from the rest of the dungeon. The room had a very tranquil feel to it, in some ways similar to what he felt inside the velvet room. The walls and ceiling were a dark blue, with stars glowing on them. The floor was softer her, and the room had an earthy, forest like smell to it. There a few trees scattered around, and in the center was a beautiful marble fountain. Billy couldn't help but stare at the water flowing from it. He felt compelled to drink from it immediately. He was so interested in it, he almost didn't notice the small blue ahihaired, fairy. 

“Can...can you help us?” Billy asked. He wasn't sure what to say. She was the first thing he'd met in this place that wasn't trying to kill him. At least, not yet. 

“Certainly, do you have an account with us?” She asked.

“No-no. I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so? What are your names?” she asked as she pulled out a small tablet. 

“Billy, Cassie, Eli, and Loki.”

“Kaplan, Lang, Bradley and non applicable, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“You're all set then. My benefactor hooked you up. Although your missing one… Theodore ‘Teddy’ Altman? Is he around? I'd like to give my explanation once I possible.”

“He’s busy, but we can relay the message… But can you heal us first? Cassie is hurt pretty badly.”

“Sure, head over to the fountain and grab a cup.”

The group obeyed, and moved to the fountain. To their surprise, three coups and a small cat dish filled with water floated up from the bottom and over to them.

“Drink up and be healed.” The fairy said, laoting over them. “Pain, Pain Go away!”

Billy was nervous, but Cassie immediately grabbed a cup and drank it. Suddenly, she stood up straighter. 

“I feel a lot better. I think my elg stopped bleeding, and I've got all my energy back. I think it even cleaned the blood off my pants as well,” She said as she looked down.

“Of Course. This isn’t a second rate fountain of healing after all. I strive for nothing but 5-star service.”

Eli began drinking his cup, and his founds faded as well. Billy picked up Loki’s bowl and placed it on the ground for him, before drinking his own cup. They were right, Billy could feel his energy returning. He was certain he could use magic again.

“This is amazing,” He exclaimed. “With this we can destroy this dungeon for sure!”

“Not so fast kid.” The Fairy interrupted. “Your benefactor picked one of the cheaper options, so you can only use one fountain once every 24 hours.”

“Oh… still that's very helpful.” Billy said. “Thank you!”

“Honestly I don't care about whether or not it helps you.” She said, smiling sweetly. “I just need my customers to stay alive. Let me get to the important part”

Billy suddenly became aware that this fairy may not be as nice as she seems.

“And that's giving me your money. You see, your membership includes access to the Special Totally Trish App, which has all sorts of cool features, but the best one is that you can give me money for healing items. Neat, right?”

“Is it IOS compatible? Eli asked.

“Of course. It's available from any app store or retailer. Of course, these items, only work in this world, and are useless in the human one, so its not available for download in your world either. . Which tragically limits my ability to sell. So unfortunately my ultra generous prices are slight less generous than normal for you all.”

“Oh.”

“But Don’t Worry, valued customer!” Trish shout joyfully, flying in front of Bill’s face. “My app also rewards you with money for each shadow you all draft. You each have your own separate accounts, but you can transfer money and items to each other… once that function gets debugged. “

“That doesn't sound like 5 star service,” Cassie pointed out.

“I know. And believe me, I want it fixed. You hardly make any money of these weak little shadows, and I can’t get that money at all until you buy something with it, so I'd love it if you could pull that money together for some quality itesm.. But unftaly it still needs work. To make up for it, i'll give each of you a free Goho-M and a free Medicine. “

“What do those do?” Billy asked.

“Look them up in the items menu later. It'll be in the app. And don't worry, it'll automatically download to each of your phones now!”

“Ok…”

“I know this seems sketchy but its not! Any questions?”

Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

“I have a few actually…but… so the fountain is still free right?”

“Yep, your mysterious benefactor made sure I would provide that for free. Apparently he thinks I overcharged people in the past for using it. This isn't the only fountain either, I one more in this dungeon, and a couple scattered through town. But you have to find them and activate them first. If you do that you might get a reward for me, and it'll help you on your mission.

“How?”

“My fountains represent a space that the dungeon has no control over, and that carries over into the real world. My fountains create places where people feel less controlled by the dungeon master, so it's great for undermining the dungeons authority. And people who go to those spaces may feel changed by them as well, which can help create rebellion and change perception.”

“I see… but how do you know our mission?”

“Thats because of my patterned Trish-to-ball!” She said, gesturing to a small crystal ball on the ground. Bill was pretty sure it hadn't been there before. “For just three easy payments of $299.99 you too can see anything going on within a 50 mile radius. And for an extra $100 Ill thrown in an interdimensional antenna so it can see it not the real world as well.”

“Gothic ya… Thanks.” Billy said awkwardly. “By the way, who’s our mysterious benefactor?”

“Oh, thats King Oberon, who banished me until I can prove myself for doing good deeds or something boring like that. Instead, i'm going to make money and buy my way back in. He’ll let me in sooner or later. So, Please buy my items when you can, because Lil’ Trish needs them to get back to the fairy realm.”

“This is a lot to take in… and i've had a long day.. We should head back to the game for now. We’ll catch Teddy up everything later.”

“Oh, yeah, you should hurry back before they win the game.” Trish said.

Cassie laughed. “They never win.”

“Normally no, but with my Trish-to-ball, I saw them leading by one field kick earlier.”

“That's one point!” Billy said, proud to remember something Teddy had taught him earlier.” But why do we need to get back before they win?”

“Well I figured you didn’t want that. I mean, Gerg did say after tonight anyone who didn't respect him would. He still needs to cement his status as a warden in this place, and most of the school is watching that game.” Trish said, nonchalantly. 

“Wait, you mean if they win the game, Greg gets stronger?” Billy said, worried. 

“Yep. And Greg’s super motivated right now too. He doesn't realize it, at least not in that world, but he will do anything to secure his power in this place.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know. Honestly you have to fight more and use more items if he does get stronger, so I don't really care. Besides, none of you are on the team so you can't really change the game right now, can you?”

“No.. but Teddy is!” Billy said. 

“You want Teddy to throw the first game his team might actually win in the last year?” Cassie asked. “I mean, it's our only option, but do you think he will?”

“Sure he will, if this to save the school.” Billy said. He had faith in Teddy.

“But you realize you also have to tell him his best friend is a bad guy right? He might not believe us.”

“We don't have much of a choice. Trish, do you know how much time is left.”

“It was about 3 minutes before you came in? They're in the fourth quarter, so it's almost done.”

“We can’t make it there in time.” Eli said.

“Sure we can. 3 minutes in football is closer to 10-15 in real life… Teddy told me,” he added when he noticed Cassis surprised look. “So if we hurry we can stop them.

“Let's go then. Before things here get any worse.”

Everyone nodded and ran out the door.

"I forgot to explain the rest of the App to them... oh well," Trish said, "hopefully they come back with more money”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is what I eneded up going with.
> 
> I wanted to do Trish coming into the story since cahpter 2, but I was worried I would never get around to doing it, so she got thrown onto the ending of this chapter. It kind of takes away from Eli's moment, but he'll get more development later.
> 
> Also I feel like I was kind of mean to him this chapter, but I wanted him to work a little ahrder for his redemption, but since early persona party members are kind of rushed, I figured getting hurt was the best way to do that without the story being too rough.
> 
> I also wanted them to actually get hurt in this chapter, because Billy has been able to heal serious so far, so I thought that worked out well with introducing Trish. And then I got really bogged down in the mechanics of how Trish's shop worked. I think that happens a lot, but hopefully their will be more story focus later. Im hoping to make Trish a Social Link Later, but im still figuring out what her arcana should be.
> 
> I have a general story plan, with a lot of bigger picture and end game ideas, but its getting to those places that I struggle with, so we will see how this all plays out.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
